It's just another color!

Now before I actually ask you the question, I want to; let me tell you that although I have lived in Gujarat for a considerable amount of time, yet technically I have never lived 'enough' to form an opinion about the place and the society. I have spent a large slice of my teens here but since the last few years most of my visits to this state have been rather short and even when here, I have stayed all the time at my home and rarely tried to go out. So for the past 5-6 years, I have rarely been out enough to be able to observe or notice people so that I could ask you the question that I actually want to. Occasionally, on a brief visit to market or malls I used to get the suspicion but that, till now, was not substantial enough to ask you that question. Then fortunately I got a job here that made me stay in the state for around a month, and all the time I spent here, and all the people I saw here, I became more and more sure of asking you the question that I am actually about to ask you.....

What is with the men in the state of Gujarat and pink shirts!!......

....... They seem to be all over them. Among all the states that I have stayed ( and there are about 4-5 states where I have spent a considerable amount of time) nowhere have I seen the fascination for pink shirts more pronounced in men. In Gujarat you will meet men wearing pink shirts with white collar and sitting at the counter of a garments shop!! I was earlier working for this engineering and constructional major and was sent to their corporate office for training and the moment I used to enter the office, ( and believe me, I am not exaggerating ) I used to see all shades of pink shirts all around me. There would be a light pink shirt reading newspaper at the reception. Then there would be another reddish-pink shirt entering the office. You get into the canteen and you will see a pink striped shirt and a pink checked shirt eating food together only to be joined by a dark pink shirt carrying his food plate. Not only that, I also realized that there were people repeating the same pink shirt every 3-4 days, meaning either they loved them or had two of them!!

I remember going to a garment store in one of the popular malls in Vadodra and demanding an official shirt only to be surprised with being offered a shining pink. When I politely asked for another color ( and preferably a white or a light blue ), I was asked how many pink shirts do I have. I answered that I was unfortunate enough never to be tempted by it. So the shopkeeper asked me why don't I get a pink one. When I replied that I was not that desperate for a promotion from my boss to buy a pink shirt, the shopkeeper told me that this is Gujarat and yahan yeh sab color chalta hai. When I asked a 'pink-shirted' guy, why was he wearing a pink, he said he liked the color and had many more pink shirts and that even I should get some as the color would suit me ( wtf....!! ). When I asked a girl about the guys wearing pink here, she said she simply did not have an issue with it.

So the first thing is what is the problem? I have a friend who has interned in Germany and tells me that the guys there are so secure about their sexuality that they don't mind wearing pink. But here that is not the case. The whole point is that people here simply don't know!!

The second thing is why is it a problem and why am I being so fussy about a mega pink shirt bonanza proliferating in the state of Gujarat. So let me tell you, that anybody like me who has a sister studying in one of the premier fashion technology institutes in the country, better be aware of what he is wearing. In the year 2004 ( when I was supposedly innocent ), I had bought a Rs 900 redish-orangish shirt for myself ( OK.... It was pink! ) from a Delhi showroom. The first time I wore it was in front of my sister, which resulted in me being called 'Pinky-boy' the whole day with added suggestions that I should throw the shirt away. But unfortunately the 900 bucks made me ignore the suggestions and I again wore it to my college in Delhi. Whatever happened then would be difficult to explain in words but you can make sense from the fact that:
1) I had my class from 8 to 12 that day, so there were no chances of going back to hostel, changing the shirt and coming back
2) I never wore that shirt again.

So here I was looking for vengeance on a soul to take out my frustration. For years I searched for men whom I knew and had accidentally put on a pink shirt. But I found none in Delhi or in Mumbai or in Rudrapur or in Lucknow. And finally when I got a whole herd of pink shirt gujratis, there is no one to support me in making fun of them. In fact people think I am a freak making fun of their prestigious pink shirts.

On the whole the lesson learnt from the brief Gujarat stay was 'ignorance is bliss' since although any other guy at any other place would think more than twice before wearing a pink shirt, this pink parade is coming from a state having reported the highest number of extra marital affairs and establishment of condom vending machines during navratri. Hopefully one day I will see some of my IIT friends who are working in Gujarat or studying at IIM-A wearing pink. Finally we will have something more to learn from this place than money making and stock markets.