Let me have my Colour...

I went to the Decathlon store in Sarjapur on its second anniversary this weekend. My shopping experience at Decathlon has been exceptionally satisfactory till date. I get a huge range of merchandise to choose from and I get value for money.
However, this particular experience was somewhat disappointing. I was looking for a plain polo neck T-shirt. And after searching for quite some time the only Ladies' T-shirts I could find were round necks or V-necks, some even with gathers around neck (imagine a gathered neck top for Sportswear!). Finally I saw Polo neck NIKE t-shirts for Ladies and I was shocked to see that the only colours available were Pink and Bright Orange. And I realised that shades of Pink dominated almost the entire merchandise for Women available in the store.
First of all I simply do not understand how and why Pink became synonymous to women or womenhood. (Even the pills for women come in a Pink packaging!). I am sure I am not the only one who despises being typecasted in a colour and I am sure there will be many others like me who would like Blues, Greens, Blacks and whites. Then why this obsession with Pinks, obsession to an extent that we are being denied of the bare minimum choices that ought to be available to us?
I remember once a colleague of mine showed a photograph of a girl riding a Purple coloured Bullet. Well, if I could drive a Bullet, which I would have completely loved to, I would rather go for a classic Black coloured Bullet. I believe black is almost synonymous to something as regal and at the same time as rugged like a Bullet.
I am not against Pinks, purples, Violets. And I have absolutely nothing against the girl riding the Purple Bullet. The point I am trying to make is that I would have loved it if I also found pictures of women on Black Bullets and that I would appreciate it if I get my Colours as well in that Pink assortment.

Fashion and me...:)

'Fashion' is one of the most ambiguous yet delightful concepts I have come across. Before joining a Fashion Institute, it was a term not only alien to me but also to an extent avoidable. Avoidable, perhaps because I knew it quite superficially, never bothered to delve into the nitty-gritties involved in it, for the only concept I had been fed on, or that was presented before me was that of a ' Simple Living High Thinking' and 'Fashion' appeared to me in an absolute contradiction with the same.
And so it is to some extent.
If we are in any way influenced by the egalitarian view of life, 'Fashion' would easily appear to be nothing but a pompous display of wealth by those who are in possession of an excess of it. A bourgeoisie system that mocks upon the hungry billions that comprise two-thirds of the globe.
But hang on, is that not the case with art, music, literature? Dominated by the bourgeoisie, dependent on the elite for its mere survival.
One might argue that art, music or literature have been there since ages, signifying the uniqueness of human civilization, thriving at the very essence of human spirit, regardless of the distinctions of class....
That is very true...and so is the fact that if we shed our inhibitions, widen our perspective a little we will find that fashion has accomplished the same feat...
Fashion has more than anything else, reflected the time it has dwelled in, its mood, its psyche, often to the level of the common man.
It was the indomitable urge to be independent in thought and action which reflected in the form of khadi and swadeshi during the freedom movement...
It is the inconspicuous but inevitable presence of sari in our daily lives that made a nine yard fabric the fashion statement of the country on the global platform...
Endless examples can be cited...but what makes Fashion the most relevant in the recent times is the role it plays in building our economy and the potential it possesses in terms of providing livelihood to millions.