#‎100sareepact‬
44/100
It was the month of December 2002. I was attending a cousin’s wedding in Kolkata. I was tying the knot next month. My trousseau was still incomplete because we had been waiting for this wedding as an opportunity to shop for mine from the ultimate wedding shopping destination. From sarees to footwears…handbags to jewellery. ….you are spoilt for choice in the City of Joy.
While the rituals going on in the house were giving me goosebumps. ..the shopping for the trousseau kept me excited. Most people advised us to go to Gariahaat and we did visit some of the oldest saree shops there. The occasions for which the sarees are picked in a bangali biye include Aiburobhaat (the last lunch as a spinster at your place), Nanni mukh (its a pooja where the bride and her father participate), gaaye holud( haldi ceremony which is traditionally a yellow taant saree), biyer saree (the wedding saree…till my time it had to be a Benarsi), lajja vastra ( it is a saree which the groom’s side puts on your head once the sindoor has been applied)..the Bou bhaat saree or the wedding reception saree. I even picked up my Kanjeevarams, Bandhnis, Bomkai, Mekhla from Kolkata along with my wedding jewellery and other accessories in silver and pearls.
This sindoor red silk with an off white border and aanchal with motifs of deer running all over was also picked up in the course of my wedding shopping.Its been years since I last wore it. Thanks to the pact I wore it for a formal dinner yesterday bringing back a lot of memories. I wore a kaan pasha and shaankha pola to go along with the saree.