Even the pinstripes on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suit cannot escape scrutiny.
The yellow, almost-gold, stripes that appear against the navy blue wool fitted Indian jacket and pants he wore on Sunday were not simple stitching. They were Mr. Modi’s name embroidered into the fabric, said a person familiar with Mr. Modi’s wardrobe.
Over and over again the lines repeated the words: “Narendra Damodardas Modi.” His middle name is his father’s first name: Damodardas Mulchand, a tea seller.
Mr. Modi, wore the pinstriped suit to receive U.S. President Barack Obama at the Indian presidential palace on Sunday. Mr. Obama is on an official three-day visit to India.
He landed in the capital New Delhi on Sunday morning where he was greeted by Mr. Modi in a break with protocol. The pair also hugged.
Mr. Modi, who changed his outfit three times on Sunday, started with a cream colored shirt paired with a saffron shawl for the airport visit. He then changed into that pinstriped fitted Indian jacket with his name all over it for a luncheon he hosted in Mr. Obama’s honor at Hyderabad house. After lunch the pair walked in the garden and were photographed drinking tea together.
Later that evening, Mr. Modi donned a dove-grey fitted Indian jacket for a state banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president’s palace.
For the Republic Day parade on Monday Mr. Modi paired a black fitted jacket with an elaborate turban, a nod to his Gujarati heritage. The red, green and orange hand-tied turban, speckled with white dots, is a a tie-dye technique called Bandhani that is practiced mostly in the western Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Mr. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat for more than a decade.
But the Obama visit’s wardrobe will probably be best-remembered for those stripes on Mr. Modi’s second outfit. They started a social media outrage especially on Twitter where some users described Mr. Modi as a narcissist for choosing to wear his name all over his jacket.
via Narendra Modi’s Suit and Its Message to Obama – India Real Time – WSJ.
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