#100sareepact 4/100: Now it has become a habit to wear a saree most times when I go out. With so few opportunities to wear sarees here in Germany, I have to grab each one I have. Until I ruffle up the courage to be comfortable with being stared at curiously at work, I will have to make do with all the parties and other events. So, that evening with Anila and Vidya was my next perfect excuse.

Vidya loves to wear sarees too and had grabbed the opportunity to wear saree (and wore my favourite material – Dhaka cotton and that too starched). I loved the yellow and beige combination of her saree. Yellow is my current favourite colour.

All of us, hailing from the coastal towns, love fish and met for an evening of “fish only” dinner of Patrani Macchi, walnut crusted fish, spicy shrimps, Fish cutlets…). After the photo session (here you can see Vidya and I admiring the Pallu of our sarees), we finally sat on the bed with cocktails first and then with cups of tea to share stories into early morning – reminding us of days in India.

The blouse of the saree has a story too – Maroon was my favourite colour at the time and the attached blouse piece was stitched in Chennai before I left. That was the last perfect blouse I ever got stitched and I wore it for years until it no longer fit and faded beyond recognition. I tried it on that evening too – but I will need to lose another 10 kilos before I can wear it again.

Now for the saree – it is a wedding gift. The silk pochampalli was a gift from my father-in-law’s boss’s wife when we first visited them in Nepal after our marriage (some perks of being a new bride). Everytime I take this saree out, images of Hotel Yak and Yeti in Kathmandu, the streets of Kathmandu, our trip to Dhulikhel and the trek there comes to my mind. I started wearing the saree after several years when I tried non-cotton sarees and was surprised at how much I liked it. Did you ever have sarees you thought you may never wear but then when you wore it you felt so good in them?