Abhijit Banerjee takes Nobel prize in dhoti, Kurta

Dhoti... that outdated and outmoded old world dress? But, that's what India's nobel laureate in economics Abhijit Banerjee wore while accepting the coveted Nobel prize at the Royal Swedish Academy. He wore an typical Indian kurta and Bengali Dhoti while accepting the award. This is the first time ever that any Indian has worn an Indian outfit on a Nobel ceremony. Interestingly, his wife Esther Duflo, a French woman, too wore a Blue silk saree and showcased Indian culture on the world stage. This is for the first time that Indian ethnic attire was showcased on the Nobel prize ceremony. The function was held at the Stokholmes Concert Hall.


The couple won the Nobel for their work in economics on an experimental approach to alleviating global poverty along with their colleage Micheal Kremmer. They would share a cash award of Rs 6.5 crore (9 million Swedish Krona. Abhijit is the second Indian after Amartya Sen to win Nobel in economics. Interestingly, both Sen and Banerjee are alumni of the Presidence College in Kolkata. Both Banerjee and Duflo are professors in the department of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Kremer is a professor in the department of economics in the Harvard University.