A repeat but a Saree so versatile and so waiting to be worn again and again and lending itself to any occasion .
A simple Ikkat in bold and basic Red, White and Blue worn the first time at a football match in Calicut and then at this recent Patient Support Group Meet in Vizag . A hot day , 250 odd patients and families to entertain and keep engaged , Drama Therapy Workshop to conduct and keep one’s wits around to make sure the mandatory selfie is taken too .
I must tell you about two lovely women in their Sarees ; their stories maybe more worthy than mine for sure . One a doctor and another a patient . Dr Leela , in her impeccable starched cotton who sat all morning at the Registration table welcoming the patients with their name cards ; the patients who adored her and then sitting there with all of us during lunch as we perched on the stage balancing our plates on our laps telling us how there was no way she would wear anything other than simple cottons to work for her Sarees had to be washed after the day’s work was over . There was no other way to ensure there would be no infection carried around .
And then dear , sweet Raju Amma in her soft and oft washed green Saree worn and frayed at the edges , our patient from a village in the interiors who had ensured her son brought her all the way to the city; her worn face creased with lines drawn by seven decades and more of a life hard lived but then easily crinkling up in laughter as she tells me how much she enjoyed getting up there on stage and doing her bit during the Drama Therapy session . Yes , she brought the house down with her cameo as the belligerent patient demanding to know if she will live to see her granddaughter married . Yes , her own impromptu lines as she played out her own role up there in front of two hundred people and wowed everyone with her tongue in cheek performance .
Women of substance who never fail to inspire .

My own Saree of course lasted all of the day well into the evening including a walk on the beach allowing the surprisingly wild waves of the seemingly calm waters of the Bay of Bengal whirl around its folds .

The Photographer , a young lad with his Polaroid who was used to waylaying the occasional unwilling tourist or young couples to pose , did not have to struggle too much with the heady group we made , happy volunteers after a great Meeting!!