6/100 – Day 4 – Ganesh Chaturti. – 20th September, 2015

The art of marbling is one of the simplest and most complex in the world of printing. Theoretically, you take a shallow, wide container of water and put in a few drops of paint – the kind that will not dissolve in the water. Swirl it with a stick. And the patters start forming. Use as many colours as you like! Dip your paper / cloth into the container, right side down, gently lift it up and flip over. Lo and behold – a thing of beauty is born! BUT – try and do that with 5.5 mts of fragile silk or silk chiffon – with NO blotches and smudges. In fact, try it with fragile tissue paper. And there in comes the expertise, the hours and years of practice.

The Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry, or Puducherry as it is now called – has an entire department devoted to the creation of these stunning yards of fabric. They are printed on white soft silk or chiffon silk. While they look incredibly fragile, I have found these sarees hard wearing and very easy to maintain. They are also a pleasure to wear with their light weight and cool feel.

I have a few of these sarees, with each one having its own special association. This pretty pink is a gift for no-reason-at-all from my cousin Rashmi Gopal. Its a much worn and well loved saree.

The charm of the saree would be overpowered with any heavy jewellery. So I chose a simple and elegant strand of pearls I have had for more than twenty years now. This also, fittingly, is a well worn and much loved piece of jewellery from my parents, Sudha Srisathyan and Kg Prasad.

Pearls are a speciality in their home city of Hyderabad. Right from White to a blackish grey and miniature seed pearls to large ones. Irregular natural pearls to coloured cultured pearls, Hyderabad is home to all these amazing treasures of the ocean. In a city landlocked in the heart of the Indian subcontinent!