PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent "gamcha-lagav" (attachment with gamcha) shown while addressing the nation and asking the people to use it for covering the face has got wider attention among the youths in Bihar.
Gamcha is a traditional thin, coarse cotton towel used to dry the body after bathing or wiping sweat.
The youths, irrespective of their castes and creeds as well as educational qualifications, have now started wrapping up the gamcha around their necks even when they are in western attires such as jeans and T-shirts.
"Amazing! Keeping gamcha around the neck adds a valid adorable traditional gleaming in dressing sense with western attires. Feel Bihari is the best expression, which has come alive among us", Shivam Kumar, a Bihar youth, doing engineering, said proudly.
Amar Kumar of Patna, an aspirant of civil service, said that he had taken out a white coloured gamcha from almirah he had bought a year ago motivated by PM Narendra Modi's advocacy to use it as mask and also with pride. "I shall be keeping this as a mark of state's cultural and traditional gravity even after I wear suit and tie across the world", he exuded.
Manikant Sahu, a clothes stockist, said that demand of gamcha will certainly go high as soon markets are opened after the lockdown or under relaxation period as it is projected as the best home made mask by the PM.
He said that he had ordered for 50,000 pieces of gamcha in different colour including saffron and white.
Interestingly, many politicians are being seen with gamcha around their necks. Health minister Mangal Pandey was recently attending a meeting with officials of health department covering his face with a gamcha.
Meanwhile, Bihar Industry Minister Shyam Rajak told an electronic media a the government has ordered for 1 lakh khadi gamchas from the weavers of Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Madhubani.
The Khadi village industry wing has also been asked to increase manufacturing of gamcha as its demand is expected to rise soon after the lockdown.
BJP spokesperson Dr Nikhil Anand said that keeping a gamcha around the neck or covering the face has got a public acceptance cutting across the caste and creed lines.
"By promoting its usage, the PM has done a wonderful job to promote cultural essence of the attire. The move will also lead to its mass production and crete jobs", he added.