JOIN USMore than just a piece of traditional attire...
Did you hear about the wear-a-sari-100-days-in-a-year oath doing the rounds on social media? Is the use of the sari among Indian women really on the decline? Just 50 years ago, even a teenaged girl would be dressed in the half-sari, if not the whole six yards. About 75 years ago, my grandmother learned to play tennis sporting her nouvari, the nine-yard sari.
Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai and Kittur Rani Chennamma fought battles wearing the sari. So, the excuse of the sari being constricting for daily wear doesn’t hold water. Yet more and more women, even those who wore saris in their teenaged years, are turning away from it. The preference for this attire seems less among the urban working class. Or is it?
Traditional threads
When the occasion demands, such as a wedding, the sari is celebrated as the quintessential feminine symbol of style. But as weddings are special occasions to be statistically significant, workplaces would give a better idea about the difference in the sartorial sense of women today.
Workplaces follow a wider dress code depending upon the sector and the management. At a nationalised bank, for instance, one sees sari or salwar-kameez-clad women employees, while private banks also have the occasional trouser-suited female. Yet, to the unbiased observer, women in India – the construction worker, bai, clerk, teacher, homemaker and socialites wear saris. Whether it is in cotton, silk or synthetic weaves, the sari is the attire of the average Indian woman, irrespective of class, region or religion.
Perhaps, the perception of the dwindling sari-clad population is because the most visible age-group of women, the college students, relegates the outfit as a traditional attire. It appears that the sari is a symbol, something to be worn on occasions like ‘Ethnic Day’. Surely there must be a reason for this...
The sari is praised as the ultimate eco-friendly attire that doesn’t need anything more than yarn woven into a strip of cloth, a one-size-fits-all unstitched swathe draped according to the imagination of the wearer. In truth, it isn’t that simple. First, to preserve a sari, another strip of cloth — called a ‘fall’ — is attached to the lower border to prevent its wearing out due to constant contact with the ground. Then there is the choli, which is
astonishingly expensive for the precious little that it covers.
The fit of the blouse is important — if it is too loose, its appeal is lost and if it is too tight, one can go numb in the arms.
Finally, one needs a matching inner skirt for the lovely delicate cotton saris.
Wearing a sari involves having these several necessary additions to help complement the sari on the wearer. As a woman’s body is prone for changes, the sari’s accompaniments have to be changed accordingly.
An art to be mastered
Expenses aside, wearing a sari is an art that has to be mastered. Even veterans sometimes use a couple of pins to keep the pleats and pallu in place, especially while commuting in public transport. Those who prefer to walk, have to learn the technique of lifting the pleats just a little so that roads’ muck doesn’t soil the sari’s hem. And don’t even ask about the monsoon, when one wrestles with an umbrella, handbag, pleats, pallu and whatever else.
Perhaps, MBA students should be graded on their ability to successfully commute in a bus for one month, sari clad. This way they wouldn’t have to wear badly fitting trouser suits that often look unflattering on the average Indian feminine figure and are unsuitable for our hot climes.
Ever wondered why most youngsters settle for outfits that satisfy the criteria of being fashionably feminine yet comfortable, inexpensive, easy to manage and maintain? And what about women in the older generation, you ask? Well, they tend to discover themselves. The children have grown up and are — hopefully — independent and busy with their higher studies, employment or marriage.
The husband has hopefully realised or is resigned to the fact that his wife has a mind of her own. So, women are known to go slightly overboard, chop off their hair and buy impossibly outlandish clothes. After some years of this and that, they reach the middle path of wearing what is comfortable and at the same time, suitable for their age and the occasion.
Whether young or old, women will effortlessly drape the sari for the right occasion. So, there is really no need for an annual 100-days-in- sari vrat to celebrate the attire. At least, not until Indian men take a ‘100 days in dhoti/veshti in a year’ oath.