A Pagadi Unraveled

But the headgear,long past its everyday utility or importance,is today reserved for traditional ceremonies and weddings. In spite of the sanguine title it has just received,feelings towards the pagadi are mixed. The few traders who deal in its sale want to preserve its authentic form and make,but most young residents hardly look up to it as being a symbol of the current reality of the city. In 1973,the Puneri Pagadi traveled a considerable distance of popularity with the iconic play,Ghashiram Kotwal. But director Jabbar Patel wouldn’t still call it a representative of the times. “I don’t think it holds much significance today,” says Patel. “We used it for the play because the rulers of the Peshwa period wore it. It had been for years,the symbol of the male headgear.”

The irony of the situation is that the pagadi’s modern connotations are in doubt,but its traditional significance remains unrivalled. At the International Pune Festival last year,every judge on the panel got a lesson in balancing it. On traditional days celebrated in schools,colleges or corporates,this one tops the attire. At weddings,this is what many guests cap their finery with,as do the youngsters performing the ritual gondhal art form. They make for classy gifts and souvenirs,open to customisation with zari work and pearls. But this is where the buck stops. “I don’t think anyone my age even gives it any deep thought. It is like the many traditions we follow,we understand or question very little of it,” says 20-year-old musician,Sasaket Kanetkar. Twenty-four-year-old student,Yatin Mazire,also admits to the pagadi’s disconnect with the Pune of today,bust feels it important to acknowledge its place in history. “I respect it as a symbol of Maharshtra; in a globalised world,it’s a symbol of tradition for me. I believe its historical journey has ensured its popularity. It used to be,and still is,the symbol of higher social stature,of a man on a mission,and,admittedly,of higher caste.”

The pagadi’s visage is most kept alive by period films and theater plays. But it has hardly ever crossed the creative threshold to become an item of widespread discussion or analysis. Kanetkar offers another explanation. “The mass feeling towards the pagadi will differ in the Peth areas,from say Kothrud,or Deccan or Koregaon Park. For me,it holds no significance because I draw inspirations from my surroundings,and there is no everyday connection that one can make with this headgear.”

The Raja Dinkar Kelkar museum remains the ultimate repository of a large number of pagadis,their different faces speaking of the eras they belonged to. Historians agree that this is the last sentinel of the headgear. “They can be expensive,so no one bothers nowadays,” historian Mandar Lavate explains. “One will find the remnants of these pagadis on the busts at Tilak Smarak Mandir,or on the Dagdu Sheth ganpati. No doubt that it is Pune’s pehchaan ,but its current place is only in a museum.”