With everything going on around us, ‘Do or Die’, ‘Hey Ram’ or ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ could easily find a place on a statement-making, oversized typographic tee in my 2026 wardrobe (Images generated by AI)
With 2026 feeling a little like the new 2016, and Y2K aesthetics being back, old references are being rediscovered, and everything from our recent past is finding its way into wardrobes again. With everything going on around us, ‘Do or Die’, ‘Hey Ram’ or ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ could easily find a place on a statement-making, oversized typographic tee in my 2026 wardrobe. Because gandhi had somehow moved beyond the history textbook, it was interesting. Because Gandhi’s mark on history isn’t going anywhere.
Lately, with a lot of chaos in my mind and rage against societal systems that surround, cage and control us, I found myself looking for something I hadn’t actively thought about in years: Gandhi. Not necessarily Gandhi as a political figure, or as the person whose philosophy we are supposed to turn to every time we talk about resistance. I mean Gandhi as a cultural memory. I even found myself strolling through Janpath and scouting the shops in Palika, as I used to during my DU days, looking for Bapu (on a tee, of course). I couldn’t find any. A little more than a decade ago, when I was in college, Gandhi’s image had acquired a certain pop-culture coolness. It showed up often – on a regular college day, during cultural society meetups and during protests. I remember the T-shirts with his silhouette, his gol chashma, his face rendered almost like pop art. There was a My Life Is My Message tee in every second person’s wardrobe. Wearing a message on your tee hasn’t gone out of style. If anything, it has become bigger, from political statements and feminist slogans to tees that simply tell you how someone is feeling. There are tees to share a state of mind, to make a joke, make a point or support dissent. But Gandhi doesn’t seem to occupy that space in quite the same way anymore. His image is still around, of course (on your notes, if you still carry cash). It is the cultural currency of Gandhi that seems to have changed. The face, glasses and the quotes remain. But that little bit of swag, the irreverence of turning Gandhi into something young people actually wanted to wear, seems to have faded. Maybe that’s just how trends work. Graphic tees evolve, references change, new icons take over. But every trend has a way of coming back. Perhaps it is time for the Gandhi tee to return too. Perhaps the old peace sign could get a little update too. Why not Bapu doing the clock-it gesture? Maybe his tee just needs another moment.
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