When India Shining runs into Zaheera Sheikh on the ramp

Basu’s tees were just a small part of the show, but they were bold enough to draw attention. One T-shirt bears an image of Zaheera Sheikh—who told The Indian Express that she was forced to lie in court and whose fight for justice changed the course of Gujarat riot cases. Another depicts Modi. A third comes with just some text, again on the Best Bakery case.

‘‘It bothers me that there are some stories you read in the newspapers for a few days, but no one does anything about them. Next thing you know, they are either small snippets on an inside page, or completely forgotten,” says the 32-year-old designer, the daughter of former bureaucrat Rathikant Basu. She adds: ‘‘You don’t have to be a Muslim to be horrified by what happened in Gujarat. I’m appalled at the kind of anti-Muslim remarks one hears these days from educated people who should know better.’’

Ghosh has woven the “Indian Shining” theme into her clothing in an apparently apolitical manner.

Doesn’t she realise that “India Shining” is associated more with the ruling party than the state of the nation? “Why are people only looking at the lotus motifs on the clothes?” says 35-year-old Ghosh, a trifle agitated. “Didn’t you see the cycle on a bag carried by the model? And I had asked one model to come forward and put his hand up to signify the Congress’ election symbol but he forgot. I have no political agenda. I simply wanted to use my show to present the finer moments in the life of our country.”

So who will she vote for? “That’s a personal question I’d rather not answer,” she says. Basu, however, replies: “I guess I’ll vote for the Congress but only because I consider it the lesser of the two evils. The BJP is too openly right-wing for comfort.”