?The apparel oft proclaims the man,? Shakespeare said, through Polonius, in Hamlet. Today, clothes also make for strange politics. Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday, passed a law to prohibit discrimination against the dhoti?wearers, henceforth, can?t be refused entry even to places where the garment would stick out, say, a pub or a corporate office. Sartorial identities, like all things stemming from the cultural, tend to polarise. From where you situate your vantage point, you can deem the dhoti law to be either parochial or progressive. Anti-colonialist or aggressively Dravidian.
Truth be told, as far as dressing is concerned, there is a tendency to herd in order to seem distinct. In fact, melding in is the only timeless trend when it comes to clothing. Power-dressing in the corporate world, with sharp suits, and dressing for power, in starched, white kurta-pyjama, in Parliament, both seem vastly different but serve the same purpose?to create a pre-defined perception of the wearer. The suits, the hipsters and the jholawallahs, all dress for how they want to be seen by the rest. Likewise, the dhoti law is all about how Tamil Nadu?s AIADMK government, especially chief minister J Jayalalithaa, wants to be seen?as the keeper of the Dravidian identity while keeping things cosmopolitan. How else does the average Joe/Janardhan reconcile the dhoti and watering holes (often perceived, though incorrectly, as Western imports) or clubs (a very purposeful colonial hangover)?