Power dressing

Confronted with a chronic power crisis, it was a matter of time before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed of Bangladesh gave her government servants a dressing down on the issue. So, besides $6 billion plans for more power plants, she has decided that all male government employees will abjure suits, jackets and ties in favour of clothing more appropriate to the weather, and thus reduce the use of airconditioners and save electricity. Once this new dress code is adopted by bureaucratic circles ��� the civil servants��� official dress code written in 1982 has already been altered this week accordingly ��� there are indications that subtle pressure may be put on private businesses to implement similar policies. She has not insisted they wear traditional cotton kurtas with pajamas or ���lungis��� (the unstitched lengths of cloth seen in various avatars across equatorial Asia) but says simple ���bush��� shirts worn atop, rather than tucked into, trousers, would do for ministers and bureaucrats alike. As they would be wearing cooler garb, she has also ordered that airconditioners, if used at all, should not be made to cool down rooms beyond 24 degrees C.

Like Bangladesh, India too has been grappling with the power shortage conundrum for a while, and has been exploring several novel solutions. Till the civilian gains of the nuclear deal with the US start generating some benefits, perhaps Sheikh Hasina���s novel diktat may be considered this side of the Farakka barrage as well. Indian companies which have been pioneering green buildings ��� those which use less energy by incorporating India-specific ideas ��� have also advocated the use of appropriate clothing as a crucial element in reducing energy bills. Our political class still largely sticks to traditional attire, so our bureaucracy could easily follow suit. Yet officewear, particularly in the private sector, continues to be largely of the jacket-and-tie variety, necessitating fierce airconditioning to stay comfortable in Indian temperatures. But will anyone go so far as to deny themselves air-conditioned comfort?