The Saree

I love this garment. It is actually a large piece of cloth. Normally 6 yards long. It can be worn in any manner you want. Sexy or homey. Professional or party wear. Traditional or stylish. Just this one piece of cloth. It can be worn in many ways.

Women can have their region, language and culture identified. They don’t need to speak. Just drape the saree and voila! Your origins will show. You may speak any language, but the way a woman drapes her saree will give her away.

Amazing! How this ancient dress (for lack of better word) still is used in today’s modern world of cocktail dresses, jeans and skirts. It’s still professional wear for many in India. It’s still an elegant piece of artistry that is draped on your body. Somehow when a woman drapes a saree, she becomes more elegant. Even when she walks gawkily, there is a certain grown up air about it.

I remember my childhood when I used to try and drape the saree my mother discarded after she returned from college. It would be warm and cool at the same time. I used to stand in front of the mirror and try to wind the huge piece of cloth around my waist. It was ridiculous. I would wonder how she can wear it so quickly and neatly. Where do you start? One must indeed be an adult to be able to drape this huge thing around you and let it make sense. It covers a woman’s body – any woman’s body – fat or thin – in a way that looks so natural and beautiful.

Many in my generation feel that it’s a pain to drape a saree. They proudly say one of the things they don’t know is how to drape a saree. Its not requisite for an adult Indian woman to know how to drape a saree. Why should we? When we get those pin up ones and readymade types? O but the freedom of draping it the way you want! The pallu can be free or pleated; long or short. The pleats can be 6 or 8. It can be hugging your lower body or just loosely draping it…

They feel its old fashioned. But have you looked at the cloth of a saree? The Kanjeevarams, the Banarasis, the Mysore Silks, the georgette ones, the satiny ones, the elegant cotton ones… those designer sarees with embellishments. They are so beautiful! I know it makes you look like a walking jewellery shop or an art-book at times… but it has some style! And you can legitimately show your mid riff to the world and no one will say, ‘Chee! How indecent!’

I had one saree that I took to London when I was a student. I would wear it every time I missed home. Whenever I wanted to feel elegant and Indian, I would drape a saree and read a book in my room. I would look out the window and see all those women with a skirt and blouse or jeans – all bundled up and hurrying in the cold. They seemed to look so colourless. In contrast, I felt as if I was so full of colour and vibrant. Even if my saree was black, it felt so vibrant! It made me feel so... cool!!!

What with Rekha and Vidya Balan making it a style icon, it seems to have regenerated. But I feel it never was out of style. Look at the Indian Mamis – anywhere they go, they drape a sari and walk out. It can be New York, Durban or Mumbai.

The garment remains. An eternal symbol of womanhood. Flexible, graceful, eternal and multi-tasking.