Day 28. “Tui ektao Dhakai porisni saree pacte (you haven’t worn a single Dhakai yet for the pact),” Ma said last night. So I brought out this one gingerly. Gingerly because the threads are coming off in many places but it’s too precious to let go. Every hole in the sari is a hole in my heart but one can’t abandon one’s heart. This is my very first Dhakai. The story begins when I was in college. My Mimi (Piyali Dasgupta) had come down to Calcutta on holiday from Houston. She always comes laden with gifts for everyone and on that trip she brought with her a Dhakai sari each for me, my Ma and my aunt. She had bought these from Bangladeshis in Houston. From east to west and back to east. The first time I wore this sari was on a very special occasion. It was the exhibition that rounds up the SCM course at Sophia. Most of us wore saris on all the days. I wore my Matu Dolon Sen’s saris on two days and one day I wore this one. This sari also has another story, a special one of course. My dearest friend Rituparna wore this sari of mine on my wedding day and she looked as gorgeous as always. And then a few years later I went to a wedding wearing this sari and came home to discover the threads parting. But it is love that still holds the sari together.