Why Sushma Swaraj would have worn green saree today

NEW DELHI: Former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who died on Tuesday night at the age of 67 years, was unique in many ways. She also has several firsts to her credit.
All these are in the public domain. However, her one trait which is hardly known is the unique wardrobe management.
Sushma Swaraj colour-coordinated her clothes with the days of the week. The colour of her saree, blouse or jacket varied according to the different days of the week.
Sushma Swaraj wore white or cream-coloured clothes on Mondays, red or maroon on Tuesdays, green on Wednesdays, yellow on Thursdays, purple on Fridays and blue on Saturdays. Sundays would be free for her.
In May 2009, when she was contesting the Lok Sabha election for the first time from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, she had told this reporter that the specific-coloured saree did not have anything to do with superstition or astrology.
“Politicians do not have much time at their disposal. We do not have the leisure of selecting clothes while getting ready. Hence, I have developed my own wardrobe management. My clothes are arranged according to colours. I find it easier to pick them according to the day,” she had said.
Just by looking at the colour of her attire, one could make out what day that was.
Sushma Swaraj once found herself mired in controversy due to the colour code that she followed. She was criticised for wearing green saree on her visit to Pakistan as external affairs minister on December 9, 2015.
On her return to India, she clarified the issue in Parliament on December 14, 2015. She said, " “People find such strange things to criticise…Why was my saree green? Why did I speak in Urdu?... I wear a green saree every Wednesday, and that day was a Wednesday."
The only other MP perhaps to follow almost the same pattern of wardrobe management is BJP MP SS Ahluwalia. He was among the first ones to reach AIIMS on Tuesday night after Sushma Swaraj had been admitted there on suffering cardiac arrest.
SS Ahluwalia, a Sikh, wears turbans of fixed colours on different days of the week. He wears white, cream or pink-coloured turbans on Mondays, red on Tuesdays, green on Wednesdays, yellow on Thursdays, purple on Fridays and navy blue on Saturdays. Sundays are free for him also.
When Sushma Swaraj was the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha between 2009 and 2014, Ahluwalia was the BJP’s deputy leader of opposition, a position currently held by Anand Sharma of the Congress.
In Parliament, Sushma Swaraj’s saree and SS Ahluwalia’s turban would more or less be of the same colour on a given day.
Had she been alive, Sushma Swaraj would have been seen wearing a green saree today, which is a Wednesday.
Incidentally, she took oath as external affairs minister on May 28, 2014 in green saree because it was a Wednesday. And, in a bad coincidence, she is being cremated on Wednesday.
While Sushma Swaraj’s wardrobe management was something personal and, hence, is lesser known, the records created by her are widely acclaimed.
When she joined the Haryana cabinet in 1977 at the age of 25 years, Sushma Swaraj created the record of being the youngest leader to be sworn in as a minister of any state. She was the first woman leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, a post she held from 2009 to 2013.
Sushma Swaraj was the first woman chief minister of Delhi while Sheila Dikshit of the Congress, who passed away on July 20, was the second woman CM of the National Capital Territory (NCT). The first woman to win the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award, Sushma Swaraj was also the first full-time external affairs minister. Indira Gandhi had held the foreign minister’s portfolio as the prime minister.
Sushma Swaraj was the first woman spokesperson for a national political party in the country. Powerful orator that she was, She was also the only woman politician to deliver speech in at least four languages - Hindi, English, Sanskrit and Kannada.