The visit by President Obama on the very momentous occasion of our Republic Day was a matter of pride for each and every living and breathing Indian. In fact the rumor goes that that several of our dear departed Indians were beaming with pride from the high heavens when they learned of this historic visit. Social media, known always to focus on the vital and never harp on the trivial got in action, there were jokes, pictures with captions, morphed pictures of Jai and Veeru and some opined on the trivial issues of Indo-US ties and what it mean for the future of the two countries. The news media wisely chose to stay away from yawn/channel change inducing topics related Indo-US ties and directed their attention towards things that really mattered such as the interior of Air Force One and the menu at the dinner hosted in honor of President Obama among other things. Then came shocking revelation by Headlines Today, we learnt that there was a possibility that no drinks and non-vegetarian food would be served at the dinner. You would think that after reaching such heights of news reporting achievement, some complacency would creep in. But that did not happen instead another big story was broken, this was about the first lady’s choice of outfit was the creation of an Indian designer.
If you were kind
enough to click the links of any of the stories above, you would notice that
one of big news items was confidently delivered by Rajdeep Sardesai. Every Indian knows
of Rajdeep Sardesai, the distinguished journalist and a tireless book seller. This
is a man who has achieved the rare feat of having more launches to his book
than actual copies sold. He has the rare accomplishment of having
more pictures with celebrities holding his book than actual number of copies read.
For the billionth launch of his book, Rajdeep has something rather special, a function
was organized where he was interviewed by his colleague and eminent journalist Nikhil
Wagle. Both gents are well known for their unbiased and objective reporting
especially when reporting about our PM Narendra Modi. They are also known to
cover the facts and never indulge in hearsay or gossip. In this spirit Rajdeep casually
remarked that PM Modi, back in early days as junior campaigner, was rather particular
about the clothes he wore. Rajdeep added that of lately Modi had come upon
wealth that had afforded him to change clothes rather frequently and even wear
suits designed by the great Giorgio Armani. Much like Rajdeep, many of his colleagues were
intrigued by PM Modi sense dressing, but alas the choice of clothes that
included Khadi Kurtas and jackets were rather boring. If only they could find
something about his sartorial habits that could cause real scandal.
Photo journalism is
perhaps the most important arm of reportage. An important picture can speak
more than volumes of paragraphs. We have seen this time and again during
especially war coverage. Keeping in this spirit of great photo journalism, a photographer
managed to click a high resolution picture of PM Modi and Obama as they
strolled and talked at Hyderabad House. Body language experts and lip readers
were trying their best to decipher what was being conversed, but it was the photo
of the PM Modi that clearly stole the show and was clearly on it’s was to becoming
legendary, you thought the photo of Che Guevara was iconic, this photo beat it
by a light year. Like most masterpieces, the photographer didn’t realize what
he had in his possession. But on zooming in a discovery so shocking and
startling was made in comparison even revelation about the conspiracy behind
the Kennedy assassination would seem unimportant.
The astounding
revelation was that PM Modi’s suit had pinstripes. Well, nothing wrong with
that, many a great men have worn have all worn suits with pin stripes. But a
closer look at the pinstripes causes such a wave in the media that it almost
rivals the scale of the Modi wave. The staggeringly scandalous revelation was
that the pinstripes contained the words NARENDRA DAMODARDAS MODI. Further
investigation revealed more shocking details such as this proving
that the international media too if all about the issues that matter.
The reaction of the gentlemen
journalists Wagle was calm and measured as always when it came to judging PM
Modi.
Rajdeep to the high
road and just mentioned ‘the suit’.
The considerable outrage
was justified, why would our PM indulge in such narcissistic and almost
childish display, all this when talking to the great US President Barack Obama
whose approval rating of among his fellow citizens is the lowest in six year low.
President Obama is known to be a one never known to hold back on his opinions unless
it is Saudi Arabia, it was quite likely that he would mentioned PM Modi’s
intolerance for diversity in sartorial habits and how it would have shocked many
a great Indian Tailors. Many on social media were quick to point that the PM
had now joined the club of the likes of Hosni Mubarak who during the height of
his power had adorned such as suit. What a travesty it was. Soon the greatest
newspaper in the world, the only one who hasn’t capitulated to market pressure
The Times of India made another startling revelation. The TOI asserted that the
price of this ghastly suit was between eighty thousand to an extravagant five lakh rupees while the second greatest paper in the world DNA
estimated the price to be ten lakh rupees.
So how on earth did our great PM commit such a faux pas? A PM who claims to be
the savior of the poor and somebody who has come from humble background himself
indulging in such extravagance and worst having the audacity to put it on
display. This ostentatious display would even put respectable millionaires and
beer barons to shame.
The news of the suit
being worth five to ten Lakh rupees was picked up by many in the media and the
outrage continues. The WSJ opined about the suit and the PM other choice of
wardrobe and the effects it could have in this thoughtful piece. What ensued was a cacophony of opinions with everybody with a
mouth opining about the ‘disgraceful suit’, in such chaos, it take a man of great
intellectual ability, supreme verbal dexterity and considerable achievement to
put thing into perspective. Thus we had the great statesman and politician Rahul
Gandhi, otherwise known as the prince of perspicacity use this very point in
one of his political rallies. To add to his innate brilliance was the tutelage
of a great thinker and statesman Digvijaya Singh.
During a political rally in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi asked those in his audience who
were awake about the promise of ‘Achee Din’ i.e. glorious days, this very
memorable speech was broadcast live by NDTV. He went on to add them that those good days
were only for the PM who wore the expensive suit. The result of this powerful
speech was that the Congress score at the Delhi poll managed to break all past
records. Even the fair and balanced NDTV had to report this.
But among all this
outrage, the attacks and the innuendo, that little entity called fact mysteriously
floated to the top, thanks to some alert social media folks and some new media
website like these. The truth is that the suit was tailored by that a well-known
garment maker called Jade Blue located in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It
also turns out that the fabric was a gift from an Italy.
The price was not where close to the much publicized 10 Lakh figure. PM Modi is
the leader of our country is a free man and is at the liberty to wear what he
pleases. The suit was auctioned and was sold for 4.25 crores rupees and was donated to the needy, but who cares about petty
occurrences like donating to the needy when we have such a juicy story. Modi had also auctioned all his gifts that were received during his tenure as CM of Gujrat for a whopping 19 crores, all of which was given to charity.
But the mighty news
media covered the story only in scarce proportions. After all we do not want
insignificant distractions such as truth to inhibit with what could possibly be
a juicy story with a sterling opportunities for shouting matches and mudslinging.
Even the literary giant Chetan Bhagat aka Captain Obvious took to blogging
after AAP victory in Delhi, to give Modi some very
path breaking and profound advice ‘Dress down. Charisma comes from integrity,
competence and compassion. Not from expensive clothes.’
Tell a lie a million
times with loud certitude and it convinces those who are not paying close
attention that it is perhaps truth. The media with their relentless coverage of
this story have ensured that the 10 Lakh Suit will be mentioned during the 'unbiased' evaluations of the Modi Government, it will be used at every
political rally to draw scorn among the common man and will be cited whenever
there is any discussion to analyze to be made about AAP’s victory. This is
another victory for our fair and fearless news media who in the great tradition
of journalists great integrity and honesty such as Brian Williams
and Fareed
Zarkaria, stand bravely against the tide of truth to cover the trivial, inconsequential,
baseless and slanderous all this with loud indignity.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A massive thanks to the mysterious @Benudhar akA Mr B for recommending the this topic
A massive thanks to the kind @u1m2a3 for pointing the typos...hopefully all are corrected.
A massive thanks to my Twitter buddies @geetaSkapoor , @ikibx @samirvarier @Anmol_77 @AbhiNationalist or @IndiaOutshines
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