4/100 – 18th September, 2015

Friends. The next few posts are all delayed by almost four months! They got updated on my Facebook page and for one reason and other did not make it here on time! But I truly love these sarees and wanted to share their stories with you anyway! Hopefully from now on, once the backlog is cleared, I will be more punctual in my posting. Thank you Anju for allowing this avalanche!

Day two of Ganesh Chaturti, 2015. This is really a very special festival for us. There is a lot of colour and music, food and friends associated with it all through my childhood years. Bombay was the perfect place to enjoy Ganapati. With the Sarvajanik Mandals and Modaks there is no other festival quite like this! But more on that for my non-Indian friends as the days go by.

It is only right that a festival with fond memories is celebrated with attire also having such memories. This ensemble has a whole lot …

The saree – a Kanchi Poly-Cotton – is a gift from an Aunt who was a part of my daily life in my growing years, who in fact taught me the finer points of wearing a saree and whom I can thank for being completely comfortable in the 6 yards of cloth – Tara Iyengar.

The bangles are tiny coral beads strung on a metal frame, a style which was very popular in Hyderabad – oh! some three and a half decades ago. We would sit with a small “Kaarigaar” or craftsman and he would string them into a frame. To us, youngsters, it looked like sleight of hand and magic. The speed at which he strung and wove the beads into a bangle was something to marvel at.

The earrings are truly special. We had a family get-together for my paternal grandfather’s birthday … 19, August, 1983 … those were the days when we cousins would get small monetary gifts from various aunts and uncles. On a very rainy last day of that visit to Hyderabad, I bought myself these earrings with those gifts. So it has a memory attached to all my family there! Panchaloha with gold polish and tiny corals. Panchaloha is an alloy of gold, silver, copper, iron and lead as the major constituent. Instead of lead, some use tin or zinc. It is widely believed that wearing jewellery made of Panchaloha / Panchdhatu brings balance in life, self-confidence, good health, fortune, prosperity, and peace of mind.

The raw coral necklace … 1981 … Venice. Bought from a jeweller in St.Mark’s Square. We had walked around and were stunned by the Italian corals going from almost creamy white to deep red. I remember them telling us that they thought corals in India are the best! Truly a proud moment! Thank you Amma, Sudha Srisathyan & Appa Kg Prasad for these!

Photo credit goes to Nancy, my domestic helper. Thank you Nancy!