The Tote as the Modern Totem

Early in February, McDonalds India launched the #toteallyyours campaign with a drop of their latest merch-tote bags with every meal worth ₹299 and above, with your #gotoperson. From a utility bag that was used to lug ice from “car to ice chest” in 1944, tote bag has evolved to becoming a modern totem with cult status at book launches, protest sit-ins, brand events, college commencements, and conferences. It is an accessory that is truly democratic and accessible-for the uber cool, the political activist, the status-quoist and the rebel with (or without) a cause.

The five years I served NIFT, Bengaluru as its Director, totes were part of the course commencement kit, the only exception being 2020, when things moved online. Each year we experimented with pockets and zip closures, length of the straps and handles, but tote was a must.

When I started my career at the turn of the 21^st century, conferences handed out file covers. Agendas came inserted in Bandhej or block printed cloth files, complete with a gel pen tucked inside. At a recent conference in Hyderabad, I was handed a Kalamkari tote, in full spirit of #vocalforlocal but global in its design. Inside were a box of Pootherakulu (paper sweet), Bidri plate and a mug. Merch, more merch and some more. The agenda and other documents were emailed.

I have a tote bag from Bengaluru Lit Fest, printed with their Ganda berunda logo, where I had moderated a session in 2018. I spoke to Shinie Antony, its curator who said that their totes were not for sale. It was given to authors and moderators as a souvenir. I have cloth totes from my jeweller, All India Fisheries Conference and Swacch Bharat Mission. Some of them give baseball caps in tote bags like Swacchta campaign. Customers who descend down the hillocks for gold shopping in my hometown, plead at the jewellery bill counter for the “bag”, which then doubles up as vegetable bag, grocery bag and, in my case, to the ironing chap in the car park below my apartment.

It is visibility and free advertisement on the move. In a first of its kind aggressive marketing in the literary world, Arundhati Roy’s latest book is available for sale, along with a tote bag (‘’worth ₹299” “absolutely free”) with her face printed on it and an evocative line from the book she was my shelter and my storm. The tote is worth the price of a happy meal at McDonald’s. The book though is costlier than their burger. In both cases, tote comes free.

In Sarojini Nagar in Delhi, the market of the middle class, there is an array of totes, with text. They are made in thick canvas, and some of them are nasty enough to say, B#@ch, get your act together. Naive mothers with sindoor screaming from their foreheads, shop for fridge covers toting totes that say, kill patriarchy; streetside vendors unpack their stock from the mother of it all-Vimal Pan Masala bags that come in sunset colours.

Not so long ago, bumper sticker slogans were a thing. On a sleepy morning in Richmond, as I accompanied my brother to drop his kids, the car ahead jolted me awake with its sticker that said-Feminism is the radical notion that women are people. I often see bumper stickers in Delhi that proudly proclaim caste and political party affiliations. They serve the purpose of announcing who you are (or not). Of course, no one can forget the wisdom on trucks and autos in India, that range from driving safe to family planning to heartbreak.

A text tote is a great accessory for wokism on the go. Whether you care for Palestine or not, whether you have read a book cover to cover or not, a tote that says all eyes on Rafah, or one from a hep book festival is a great accessory of the grandstanding movement of the times. It joins the long list of things that have caught up thanks to viral trends. Totes are effortlessly chic and not in your face unlike slogan T SHIRTS. Eminently suitable for virtue signalling. It seems to draw attention without actually screaming for it. One is political without getting one's hands dirty. It Is slacktivism at its best.

Cloth tote is the post-truth world's totem. It packs in pretty much everything, including your politics and other baggage. Its roominess to accommodate much seems to be symbolic for the maximal volume of the times, where one is expected to be pro everything. It is the cultural symbol of our times, where you announce kinship and affinity with a bag. That it is with no closures mostly, seems to work well with the idea of a nothing-to-hide persona that seeks to play out her vulnerabilities in the public.

Have you toted the tote yet?