A hat is not just a hat - political overtones of the Pahari cap

By Gaurav Mandyal 

Fixed ? Himachali caps on display at a retail shop in Kangra.
(Photo Credit: Gaurav Mandyal)

A cap is not just a cap in Himachal Pradesh, especially during the election time. The traditional Pahari cap of Himachal Pradesh is copyrighted by different political parties as a part of their identity. Yes, we are talking about the Virbhadra’s green Himachali cap and Dhumal’s red cap; and the latest addition is the blue, which belongs to the BSP.

Now, the cap color reflects a person’s political affiliation. Since the proverbial birds of a feather flock together always, so do the caps of a color. All the Congress workers in Himachal wear the green cap, while their BJP counterparts prefer the red one. Basically, the green cap worn in Upper Shimla is the traditional cap of Kinnaur.

As leading parties put political color to these caps, life is becoming complex for the common man. If a person does not support any party and wants to wear a Himachali green or red cap, others assume that he or she belongs to Congress or BJP. The situation has turned into a trickier one, since some people deliberately wearing caps according to the party they support.

Recently Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that he has started shuffling his caps - one day for the red and other day for the green. Will it save the innocent 'Pahari Topi' from forced political overtones? The answer is still obscure. It will now be very interesting to see if people will actually change their approach towards these colorful caps.

May be the CM was more suggestive in his remark. Elections are in the offing and the heat of the seat bargains is bringing the internal rifts in parties out in the public. CM may switch his caps every day, to keep political nuances away, in his attempt to save the politically neutral Himachal cap. However, it is time that many politicians in HP and elsewhere are hurriedly looking to switch their cap colours if it can get them a ticket for the fray.

Anyway, the cap colour politics will be helpful for the common man (no pun intended on AAP, as they are yet trying to earn their own cap color in the state), especially close to the election days, to understand what party the leader belongs to, by looking at the cap. This is going to be really handy these days when elections are already announced and politicians are jumping from one party to another.