As Indian athletes made their entrance on river Seine for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on July 26, tri-colour flags rose from a boat carrying sportspersons adorned mostly in white. The white Saris of women and the kurta suits of men were peppered with saffron and green, the bordering colours of the Indian flag. However, the quality of the designs, made by reputed artist Tarun Tahiliani, have disappointed people back home.
Badminton player Gutta Jwala wrote on her social media handle, "The garments which were made for the Indian contingent participating in Olympics this time have been a huge disappointment!! (Especially when the designer was announced I had huge expectations)." She pointed out that not all women know how to wear a Sari and that it would have made better sense to use pre-draped ones. Critiquing the lack of colour, Gutta said that the designer should have displayed "the art of our culture through embroidery or hand print." It was, she said, "a work of absolute mediocrity and looked shabby."
Star Badminton player PV Sindhu and table tennis champion Sharath Kamal were the flag bearers at the event. Sindhu had posted a picture of herself wearing the Sari before the event, which while bringing appreciation for the player drew criticism for the designer. A Twitter user posted pictures of Sindhu in Kerala Sari and wrote that she looked glamorous in those, adding that they should have used "something like that without paying fancy amounts to some designer."
Author Nandita Iyer directly addressed Tarun Tahiliani in her outraged post. “Hello Tarun Tahiliani! I have seen better Sarees sold in Mumbai streets for Rs.200 than these ceremonial uniforms you’ve ‘designed’. Cheap polyester like fabric, Ikat PRINT (!!!), tricolours thrown together with no imagination. Did you outsource it to an intern or come up with it in the last 3 minutes before the deadline? Such a disgrace to the rich weaving culture and history of India.”
Some also shared photos of men like the Olympic javelin winner Neeraj Chopra in the white-and-bordered-by-green-and-saffront kurta suit, ridiculing the poor sense of fashion. "Raju Tailor from my village can design a better dress than this. What a scam. Disappointed (sic)," wrote Twitter user Prayag.
Meanwhile, shooter Manu Bhaker qualified for the 10 metre Air Pistol finals. In Badminton, PV Sindhu secured a comfortable victory over Abdul Razzaq Fathimath Nabaaha from Maldives, in her first match. In Table Tennis, hopes are pinned on veteran players Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra to bring home the medals. Neeraj Chopra, who won gold in Javelin Throw in Tokyo, would be expected to repeat the feat in Paris.