It is in inclusiveness that we find true knowledge.
The ‪#‎100sareepact‬‬ has never been about how many sarees each one of us has or how much more wonderful someone’s collection is.
Nor has it ever been about a gaggle of women taking selfies. Every confident, self assured man I have met after we began the pact has taken the time to tell me his saree story. And there have been some amazing stories told.
Ketav Kadam, Shoumik Dé, Kandukuru Nagarjun, Alex Mathew, Mr Ramnanth at Nallis and Venkatesh Narasimhan have left an impression on me as the men who have engaged on the pact, who’s love for weaves and history and admiration for sarees only grew stronger with the pact…they were already invested in the subject from before.
I met the managing director of Co-optex on my visit to Chennai. Venkatesh Narasimhan wears his saree love with joy. An IAS officer who when he got posted to Co-optex was delighted that he would be engaging with a community he calls exquisite. The weavers.
Since he joined he has immersed himself in learning and launched a series of projects of revival. He does not restrict himself to the south of India alone, he proudly showed me interactions with ajrakh weavers in Gujarat in the photographs on his iPad. A visit to West Bengal and he carried back a -to-die-for classic Lal Paar in the softest milk white. His personal collection of sample sarees from all over India is enviable.
Here we are discussing the parliament or durbar border that he has helped revive in Co-optex weaves.
From the master craftsmen who weave to the patrons of the weaves, the Rajas and Maharajahs who gave respect to the art and kept it alive and now to the champions of revival – like Venkatesh Sir – a big salute from the #100sareepact.
Without each of you men, we wouldn’t have had this richness of tradition, heritage, relationships and learning in our lifetimes.
Thank you for making our lives more enriched and beautiful.
Saree #93, a revived bandhej in the softest silk from Gujarat, to meet the two knowledgeable friends I’ve made on the pact, Sreemathy Mohan andVenkatesh Narasimhan.