57/100
This Valkalam in a unique lavender shade with a beautiful woven border and palla in brown and beige is one of those sarees which I owned pre marriage.
It was the saree I wore for my best friend’s wedding which took place almost two years before mine.
She lived diagonally across my house. She was the youngest among three sisters. She was fair; plump in a cute sort of way with a mop of thick black curly hair. We were probably in the second or third standard. We went to different schools. It was first my mother who often would talk to her when she met her on the way. I do not remember how she gradually started coming home to play….not with me….I was not interested in silly games. ..I always preferred to immerse myself in story books rather than play doll games. She played with my brother. She would come up to me shyly to inquire what I was reading. ..to which I always had a curt reply..which made her back off. Gradually she started spending more time at our place . My entire family grew fond of her and she would be there on the table having lunch with usmost days. Slowly I was also drawn to her and we started bonding. After that there was no looking back. We were so thick; we were inseparable. The entire neighbourhood talked about our friendship. We would hardly be seen without each other. She was a part of family.
Years passed and her parents had found a match for her. Both of us didn’t know how to react. We were short of emotions. We spent a few days in silence. Then gradually all the preparations started at her place and I was totally involved. We used to spend sleepless nights talking to each other about the change that her life would undergo. Her wedding dates overlapped with a very close cousin’s wedding. My family left after her wedding to Lucknow leaving me behind to attend her reception ceremony. That was the first time ever I travelled alone.
I have a worn this saree several times before as it is one of my favourites and has some special memories attached. I bought it alongwith my mother after scouring several shops for that perfect saree befitting the bride’s best friend. Wore it yesterday for a party to welcome another young bride into the battalion.