7/100 – Day 5 Ganesh Chaturti

Today is the half-way point for my personal target of a saree a day for Ganesh Chaturti! So I am quite pleased with my perseverance. To celebrate this, as much as the God, I chose a saree I have not worn too often – for fear of ruining it. It is a gift from a person I deeply admire for her positive and independent spirit in the face of a lot of hardships that life has thrown at her. We share numerous likes and have that very special gift in our relationship – sharing silences that are filled with meaning. She is a very special Aunt (at least, I claim her for myself though she is my husband, Siddharth Ramaswamy’ s aunt!) – Thank you Aunty Mythili Varadarajan.

The vibrant green of this saree – I choose to call it South Cotton-Silk, for I do not know if its from Coimbatore or Kanchipuram or any of the other numerous centres of weaving in South India – has an all over weave of small cheques. It is graced with a dull mustard and deep aubergine border that is woven with a traditional mango and lotus pattern in gold thread.

Since the gold design is so intricate and prominent, it needs minimum accessorising. I teamed it with another of my Kenyan finds, a tribal pattern necklace and earrings made of brass. While I bought the earrings, I enjoyed stringing together the necklace for myself. I think I have developed an addiction to brass jewellery!