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Traditional jamadar attire reintroduced after 50 yrs |
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2000-8-24 |
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Channels Traditional jamadar attire reintroduced after 50 yrs By: A Mid Day Correspondent August 24, 2000  'We will now be identified as the mayor's personal attendants', says Nazir Shaikh, jamadar (head peon) of the deputy mayor who will flaunt his traditional attire on September 14 during the civic general body meeting.
The civic administration has recently reintroduced the traditional barabandi angaraka for jamadars of the mayor and the deputy mayor. On August 15, 57-year old Rangarao Kamble dressed up in the traditional attire of a white angaraka, a red bandi, red pagdi and the emblem of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The costumes for Nazir and Suresh Bharti, the bodyguards of the mayor are not ready yet.
The history of the traditional outfit can be traced back to the British era. The jamadars used to be dressed in the traditional outfit of a barabandi angaraka and a pagdi of that period. Even after independence, the attire was continued.
However, in the year 1950 during the tenure of S K Patil, the mayor of London visited Mumbai. S K Patil, along with his jamadar turned up at the docks to receive him. As the mayor of London had never seen his host before, he mistook the traditionally attired jamadar for the mayor and embraced him.
This accutely embarassing situation led to the discontinuation of the costume. However, even though the attire was discontinued in Mumbai, other cities in Maharashtra continued with it. These jamadars were given a set of white shirt and a pair of white trousers along with a Gandhi topi. However, when Mayor Hareshwar Patil while attending the Maharashtra Mayor's Parishad at Pune this year saw that the jamadars of other cities were dressed in traditional attire, he decided to restart the tradition back home after a gap of 50 years.
The jamadars, meanwhile, are pleased with the decision. 'I used to feel odd previously but now it is okay' , says the mayor's jamadar, Kamble. Nazir says, 'We too will be respected as now we have a distinctive attire.'He also said that there were times when they were refused entry to a particular function, as they could not be distinguished.
However, even as the costume has been reintroduced there is fear among the present jamadars about its acceptance by the younger generation. 'I am unsure about the future and there could be a possibility of the younger generation not accepting this traditional attire'.  Email this article to a friend  Print this article  Post your Comments  View comments Rate this story 1 2 3 4 5  |
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