The Biswa Bangla store at the Kolkata airport, apparently a brainchild of Mamata Banerjee, is a must-visit whenever I fly into that city. In fact my boss was quite miffed that I had kept it a secret and bought some lovely sarees there when we had gone together for a work trip.

This saree is a beautiful linen. When a client asked me to be a spokesperson for a study they had done on happiness, which included addressing the media in Chandigarh, I thought it was the perfect attire – crisp, stylish and with the dash of red that keeps it zingy. After the press conference etc we had a few hours to kill before hitting the airport, so two people from the client team and I went wandering around Chandigarh. Spotting Sukhna Lake, we decided to get into a paddle boat for an hour or so.

Little did I know the travails of paddle-boating in a saree. When the petticoat wasn’t riding up my legs, the saree was dipping into puddles of water in the boat! Added to that the summer sun which shone brightly in our faces, causing me to pull a coy pallu over my head.

Meanwhile Bagwati is enjoying being ferried around as she sits in pride of place!