Colourful appearance expected

NEW DELHI, DEC 5: The Indian contingent at the 13th Asian Games marchpast in Bangkok can turn out to be ``unintendedly'' colourful if the...

NEW DELHI, DEC 5: The Indian contingent at the 13th Asian Games marchpast in Bangkok can turn out to be “unintendedly” colourful if the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has its sartorial way. Taxi yellow sarees for the women, but no accompanying blouse pieces.

Arrange for your own blouses, they have been told, unmindful of the fact that the probable fall out of such a broad directive could be non-uniformity of colour marking out the Indian women at the opening ceremony extravaganza.The men could also add a splash of colour of their own, as they, too, have been provided only with off-white trousers to go with blazers of greyish-blue colour, but sadly no shirts to be worn on the occasion.

“They could have given everyone blouse pieces of same colour. But now that everyone would wear blouses of their own choice, chances are there will be blouses of different hues and if that happens, it would look very odd,” said a woman tennis player.

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Since the IOA has not included shirts in the “dressing kit” formen, though athletes have been told verbally that white would be preferred, possibility of a ludicrously colourful Indian participation cannot be ruled out. Particularly with the trademark saffron turban, which anybody with a little sense of dressing up would admit does not actually go with greyish-blue blazer and trousers. Turbans did not really sit pretty on Indian heads at Kuala Lumpur in the 16th Commonwealth Games as a knotty situation emerged when the pre-tied headgears were found to have come unstuck on way to the Malaysian capital and had to be tied somehow before making an appearance at the marchpast.

If the Indian contingent turns a few heads at the opening ceremony, pass on the credit to IOA for adding colour to the occasion.