New Delhi, July 30 -- If ever a couture week seemed at odds with the mood outside the venue, it was this year's India Couture Week that started on 23 July in central Delhi.

On one hand was the event: 10-plus designers presenting their vision of couture-shorthand for bridalwear-at the Taj Palace Hotel. On the other was a city, and a country, consumed by Gen Z led protests over the NEET paper leak.

The distance between the two felt especially stark because for the first two days of India Couture Week, I was also on the ground at the protest site at Jantar Mantar, about 5km from the Taj Palace Hotel. I spoke to and observed students chanting slogans and making reels demanding accountability from the government. In the evenings, I was watch...