STYLE

                                                       

  

         

Prafulla Kumar Mohanty

Style is a manner of saying things in literature. It is a stance, an attitude, an individualistic aesthetic code and mode. But beyond literature and arts style is a statement  mostly non-verbal. When Sourav Ganguly  made a century as Captain of Indian Cricket team at MCG the commentators said, Ganguly has made a statement in style. When India's Prime minister Narendra  Modi in his first visit to America  addressed the Indian Diaspora at Madison Square Garden every one including the Political critics went gaga over Modi's style.But Modi's 10 lakh monogrammed suit was considered to be an odd curiosity. Why? Because it did not suit his persona. How then should we define style?

Mannerism, originality and the baroque at times are associated with style.Others think effortless nonchalance defines a man of style. An unorthodox view is that one who is not a conformist and acts in violation of societal norms is a stylish man. A man of social standing throwing witticisms and showing courage to defy set patterns of behavior is also considered stylish but if the attire is outlandish such a person will be the butt end of  ridicule. On the other hand the dress, make up, mannerisms of Raj Kapoor in Shree 420 when he walked the road singing 'Mera Joota Hai Japani' made a different style statement. Wit, satire, self confidence and ethical purity created originality and made the character attractive and stylish. In contrast to the rich and powerful carwallahs he was richer in the refinements of the heart. Style is virtue at its human best.

Many mod women think a garish make up, expensive dress with more exposure of flesh, jewellery and other accessories of snobbish society give a stylish look. Very often they are wrong. No artifcial load of jade and diamonds can ever compete with nature's own endowments. A solitary star in a night sky over which cloud flakes float in lazy motion makes the star more stylish and beautiful than the queen Moon surrounded by her starry fays. What really matters in style is the gracious attitude of the soul and its power to move the onlooker to speculate over the unarticulated human values. If a horse trot or tiger walk does not convey style we should pause to redefine style .A person wears a style not like lipstick but like perfume which is not noticed but sensed.

There are many who believe that every odd is a style.When an actor throws cigarette into the air and catches it by a doglike action in his lips, it is at best a gimmick. Similarly strategic pause in a speech hanging a word in midair raising the eagerness in the audience is not style, it is a mannerism. Style is not a strategy,it is a natural expression of a form which is multidimensional. Style is personality uncultivated. It is never formalized by rehearsals. Style brings to the surface the soul force in its naturalness.

Style is man: that is, what he is within comes out without the crutch of semiotic jargon.