Olympus at the Olympics
Canada’s National Post dug the Indian Olympic team’s sherwanis at the Olympics opening ceremony. Check out how many are carrying their own camcorders and digicams — are they blogger-Olympians?
There was a glint of glitter, too: India’s regal gold and red scarves (bottom)… [Link]
The Post seemed to be in the minority:
… Indian women tennis players Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao [sported] track-suits… The two had returned from their practice and there was no time. [Link]
The Indian contingent walked unceremoniously… Tennis duo Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao chose to dress up in trousers and informal practice jackets looking inappropriately attired for the occasion, while Delhi paddler Neha Aggarwal wore a green sari that didn’t match either…
[The men’s] off-white sherwanis looked badly fitted, as if they were tailored free-size, and didn’t match with the occasion. Was it stitched hurriedly in the last minute?… [Link]
To these untrained eyes, the team looked fine. Sherwanis are, for the most part, not closely fitted in the first place. The fact that the shooters, the Great Indian Hopes, failed to qualify for the finals should be of far greater concern.
Vijender Kumar won his bout against a boxer from Gambia; Dinesh Kumar lost, but holy deltoids! Here are more photos of Indians at the Olympics.
(hat tip: CP and the NYT)
Previously: Vijender Kumar
on Sunday, August 10th, 2008, 10:27 pm in Fashion, Olympics, Sania Mirza, Sports › 
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Nice fotoo. random thoughts.
these scarves are rther ugly. They are called ’stoles’ in desi fashion-parlance btw, ( you can call it Hann!GQ style). Guys shouldnt wear anything shiny. It’s unseemly. But that’s me.
I rather like the look on the guy in front right, who’s holding the indian flag. He seems to have the intense passion thing going, and the deference he shows towards the flag indicates to me buddy’s going to give all he has to give and then some in his sport. Anyone know who he is ?
by the same token. mirza begum is probably out in the first or second round…
I can only recognize Leander Paes in the crowd.
I can see the ancient mariner bringing up the rear. lol lol
and a guy apparently adjusting his monocle or tweaking his mootcha at about 10 oh clock. “I say, old frootie. this is kvite awl rite.”.
Lt. Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathode AVSM. India’s only individual silver medallist ever, at Athens in shooting. (Norman Pitchard may be?)
Notice the lack of applause when the Indian contingent entered the stadium, I guess we are just making the numbers at Olympics.
But this guy slipped through somehow.
Either that or…
Thanks Samir and Ashvin…
Well done Abhinav Bindra.
p.s. goes to prove my earlier theory that one needs a myth to break down the psychological barrier. Lt Col Rathode laid the seed. Bindra builds on it. Hopefully this leads to a deluge. I can point to the example of Kipchoge Keino from Kenya, the recent crop of tennis stars from Serbia and golfers in S korea.
On that note, SL’s Chinthana Vidanage is in strong contention in the 62kg category.
The cams bothered me a bit - it’s not the thing in itself but the lack of discipline that it bespeaks. You’re not just a tourist, you’re representing the country, when all eyes are on the contingent, at the opening ceremony - which once upon a time used to be a march past - when athletes actually marched past.
I think the ‘contrasting sash’ could have been replaced with a turban-with-a-flourish. Paes has the sash on scarf-style! In the old days, like 2000 Sydney, the Indian team wore blazer & slacks and a tie, with turbans that were either orange or saffron - now that could be critiqued as a colonial representation of the Indian - since that used to be the uniform back before Independence as well, such as at 1936 Berlin. Somehow that seemed more appropriate even if more ‘Western’. (Women wore blazers on top of saris.)
REPRESENT!
The girls should have been properly attired, not informally, but I thought the men looked ok. We need to find an outfit that is “us”, blazers and slacks are soooo not. And as some one else noted, the lackadaisical approach reflects indiscipline , a major factor for the lack of medals
I thought the sherwani outfit was the result of this hankering for ‘authenticity’. The sherwani has its place, just not in the Olympic march past. And what’s ‘us’ is not static, so it is arguable that the blazer-and-slacks is more ‘us’ now than it was in 1936 - it certainly has the force of tradition, far more so than the sherwani-churidar - in the sports context.
Now this is the Chinese team. The Post critiqued this as ‘out of Saturday Night Fever’,but that’s only if you focus on the ‘collar out’ style. The slacks are not bell bottoms. The overall look is smart. Nations as diverse as the US, Ukraine, Japan and Cuba adopted the blazer-and-slacks, with minor variations. Makes sense to me.
Apologize for multiple comments - but forgot to mention Pakistan, also dressed in blazer-and-slacks, salwar-kameez for the women.
Notice the mens footwear. They are all different, some are wearing sandals, others shoes and even chappals.
I thought Sherwanis went out of style in the 50s. I mean who really wears Sherwanis unless you are attending the graduation ceremony at Aligarh Muslim University.
Special pujas and anything wedding related…. oh! and college culture shows.
The presence of sherwanis are the best indication that a desi event is a special occasion.
Listen PeoplE!! Fohdalastime!!! The Sher doesnt wear floral motifs or shoulder pads in his ‘SHERwani’. Hrrmph!
we keed. :-)