I did the next best thing to buying a saree today. I went shopping with Shubha Maudgal for sarees she wanted to buy.

Some of you on the pact know that she auctioned all but three of her sarees last Diwali, in Seoul where she lives, and donated the money to help cancer patients. She only kept three with her. The saree that her mother wore at her wedding, the saree she wore at her wedding and the saree she wore for her daughter’s marriage.

Perhaps all these saree posts she reads have tempted my sister in law into saree wearing again. But only for occasions she says. So off we went looking for stunning pieces only. And in the first fifteen minutes we found what she loved and had to have.

We met Pavithra again and every time I meet our resident, saree historian, I come back inspired and enriched. While we admired every piece that she would show us, her stories fascinated me even more. Weaver stories and stories of the motifs on the sarees.

She says weavers would weave motifs to inspire women. So they would imbibe the qualities of the animals woven into the design on the pallu or border. As wise as an elephant, as speedy in thought as a horse, aspirations as high as a bird could fly…

This thought of wishing well for someone you may never meet, is common in Shubha’s giving away of all her sarees and the story about the weavers weaving motifs that would inspire the wearer. Tales of little and big gestures of kindness have emerged in the telling of the stories on the #100sareepact. Precious indeed.

#100sareepact saree#69. A soothing Sri Lankan saree, in an unusual carrot and grey, that kept me going all day through meetings, shopping, lunch and errands.