A dark green Kanjeevaram with gold coin motifs and an orange zari border. Yes, in my trousseau! It’s the saree I wore before changing into the traditional red. It’s a baby compared to the other two sarees I’ve showcased! But this one has a tale to tell too. It was the husband’s cousin’s wedding in Chandigarh and it was time to bring out the Kanjeevaram in Punjab. I was looking forward to wearing this one after having it sleep for two years.

My son, who was about 6 months old at the time, used to have a bad bout of reflux after every feed. What went in would come right out. There were lucky days when he would burp and everything would be fine with the world. This was one such lucky day, or so I thought. I was extremely confident that he’d be ok. An hour into the wedding, the little howler monkey began to scream non-stop. Not because he was hungry but because, well, that’s how howler monkeys are. What choice did I have but to soothe-feed. I have never prayed like I did that day, but then God ain’t so easy to please. Haven’t we heard of stories of demons and kings doing penance for years together before God appears before them. What was my little “Oh God, please don’t make him puke!” before that kind of stuff? So, out it all came, on my gorgeous green saree. The kid was absolutely fine after that while I went around smelling of curdled milk.

Four years later, I wore this saree again, yesterday for a dinner out. The memories of the madness in my North-South wedding (no, no, don’t please compare it to Two States), memories of being thrown up on that I can now laugh about, come rushing back. And I can’t help but notice the green in all the three trousseau stories I’ve shared. Symbolizing the freshness of memories, perhaps?