Say it with Che

A global youth icon, reviled and adored across borders, finds space in living rooms and wardrobes in Mumbai. Nilosree Biswas explores the lighter side of a revolutionary

“It’s art, buddy” says Meenakshi Patel, 19, of the Che Guevara tank top that she is wearing. “You do it to get reactions,  to make a statement. That’s the art part.” For a Latin American revolutionary who died fighting for the Marxist cause, Guevara has been marketed in the unlikeliest of places. His picture glares out at you from T- shirts, handbags, sweatshirts and even thongs. He has been used to sell music, given his name to a New York grunge label and prompted the creation of an online store that meets “all your revolutionary needs.” And in Mumbai, a little store in Bandra called Loose Ends has taken up the task of finding a Che for your home.

Walk into the quirky store, lined with bizarre clocks, coasters and pop art pillows, and Che is all around. “We began the series with T-shirts but later extended it to home accessories like lampshades and cushion covers,” says proprietor Madhumita Goswami. “His was the most popular image.” The idea was to get political and cultural icons out of the realm of art and into people’s homes. “My clients are people with a strong individual streak,” says Goswami. “Possessing a Che product reflects that. Some buy them for their homes while others get them for friends.”

Goswami used the best known and most prolific Che image — a frontal shot of him wearing a beret-taken by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda in 1960. The image has gained global currency, being reproduced on virtually every surface capable of holding a picture. For Goswami too, Korda’s picture was versatile and had the highest recall value. So high is the demand that she is now designing a whole new range of Che products for her store.

Says Aviral Saxena, graphic designer and proud owner of a Che cushion, “You put his face anywhere and it will sell.” The revolutionary jostles for space in his living room with posters and publicity materials for B-grade horror movies like Har Raat Shaitan Ke Sath and Bandh Darwaza. At the cosy pad Sapna Bhavnani, owner of the popular salon Mad O’ Wot, shares with her partner Joseph Joseph, head of InkInc, two identical Che lamps rub shoulders with miniature toys and bizarre Lego creations. The two Ches used to lead separate lives at the couple’s respective homes, being united only when the two decided to live together.

Says Bhavnani, “I liked the look of the product, though I am not a die-hard fan of Che.” For Joseph, though, Che is more than just an image. “He has the romantic appeal of a revolutionary. Like Gandhi, only more charismatic, and he photographed better”, he smiles.

Mazhar Ramzanali, 29, who runs an artist management company called 21 Tigers, has chosen to liven up his small office near Shivaji Park with a huge red flag printed over with Che’s face. “I loved the movie Motorcycle Diaries, says Ramzanali. “Che to me is a symbol of rebellion.” The flag was bought by Ramzanali’s partner Girish Talwar from Palika Bazaar in Delhi. “It arrived a few months ago, to funk up the tame bamboo blinds we had earlier. It seemed to fit in,” says Talwar.

For Siddharth Sikand, promo director with Channel V, Che brings back fond childhood memories. Sikand carries his very own Che around on his forearm, in the form of a bold tattoo done by an Italian artist in Goa. Sikand’s parents were big fans of Che and Fidel. “Back then, Che merchandise was rare. My folks managed to get a book of Cuban posters which my mother mounted and put on the walls.” Sikand has since been given all sorts of Ches — from key chains to mouse pads — but feels sad that “the idea of an icon is lost in this process of popular merchandising.  Most people who pick up these things don’t even know who he was.”

But  for some, just the image is enough. Says Indrani Ray, media consultant, “My liking for Che stuff does not come from any communist leanings. I simply find him sexy.” A revolutionary who looks annoyed enough to do anything will always appeal to the young-at-heart. But the bottom line is — people like to flaunt Che on their T-shirts and elsewhere because it looks ‘cool’. As Ray puts it, “It is the ultimate cliché in radical chic. As essential to a dissident’s wardrobe as LaCoste shirts are to a yuppie’s.”