My First Suit

Over the years grew up watching fashion trends come in and fade away...and come back in vogue again! Bell bottoms, huge glares, torn jeans, hipper clothes and hairstyles etc etc. But somehow what stuck on was this whole business of suits. And the colours as well!!!

It was in the late 80s that I saw appa wearing suit for some function. Felt very happy to see him in that attire as he looked simply great!! As years passed by I saw him a lot in blazers and jackets. In '94 while in class 12 I started wearing blazers to school during winters. Felt nice given I was a house captain as well.

During my MBA and later my advertising days ties caught my fancy. I slowly built a rather small but nice collection of ties. Everyday the tie would be decided basis my mood and the day ahead. Being in advertising tie itself was a rarity. The first real occasion presented to me for wearing a suit was my shaadi. Rather surprisingly over the years suits have become part of the standard marriage wardrobe for the groom, even in the tiniest of the villages. I while was very clear that am not going to don the traditional veshti-sattai (dhoti - kurta), I was not going to wear a suit either. I got married in a jeans & a jacket. Don't look surprised, I really did.

Years passed by and I switched sides to marketing. And here at Kingfisher Airlines, occasions demanded ones presence in suits. One such occasion was the launch of our service to London and I was spearheading it. I was all set to wear my first suit!!! I was excited...really and a bit apprehensive too. Reema, my wife was happy that she was around when we went shopping. After a lot of deliberations I selected the material, gave the fittings and came back still wondering how it will look. In the afternoon I dropped Reema to the airport as she was leaving for Bangalore and proceeded for the International Airport where work was in progress. During the day the rather sweet owner of the shop who was getting the suit made kept me posted on the work in progress. And surprisingly by 6 or so in the evening the suit was in my hands! And that brought a huge smile on my face.

The next day as we needed to reach by 0830, I was up by 5 to get ready. Got a quick bath and rushed to Harish's house. Gave a quick iron to the suit and got ready. Got compliments for the innovation in the Times of India and my suit too. We moved from there to the airport. Almost everybody in the team had a smile on their faces and complimented me. Felt nice. As the day and the event ended I also managed to catch a glimpse of myself in a full length mirror. Not bad was looking good! Unfortunately couldn't get a snap clicked for Reema.

Net net had a great day...my first day in a suit!!!