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Unravelling the sari myth

New Delhi: Long after the Japanese gave up their kimonos, the Chinese their Mao boiler suits and the South Americans their boleros, we Indian woman, whether at home or abroad, clung loyally to our saris. You saw doughty sari-clad Gujarati women on the top of the Matterhorn, on a safari in deepest Africa ....Read more

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Some other possible reasons younger women don't wear saris so much.By: Erika | Tuesday , 22 Sep '09 16:49:50 PM Reply | Forward I suspect younger Indian women don't want to wear saris (in part) because the are perceived as "grandma garments" or as a country cousin costume. Globalisation means that younger, upwardly mobile women are exposed to images of "trendy" women wearing Western clothing: after a while this has an unconscious influence.Add to that the undoubtedly daunting task of ironing a sari and it is not surprising that younger Indian women are choosing other styles of clothing.Some of the other replies to this article have talked about comfort: there are two issues here, comfort and freedom of movement. I would say saris score well on the comfort scale but the Nivi drape scores fairly poorly on the freedom of movement scale - I wouldn't like to try to run in it or play sport. Both comfort and freedom of movement are relative, based on the individual's experience and expectations and size and shape. My ratings and perceptions are those of a Western woman who loves traditional saris.

SariBy: abhi | Wednesday , 29 Jul '09 20:19:10 PM Reply | Forward You cannot force anyone to wear anything. A woman decides what to wear and if she doesn’t wear sari no power in earth can do anything about it. No point in beating chests about culture. Culture evolves based on needs. Having said that, I feel that the sari enhances the beauty of an Indian woman by a very high degree. When my wife wears it, she looks like a goddess. When women in my office wear it, they look beautiful. In fact, I feel one of the reasons younger women don’t wear sarees is because it makes them look so adorable, and they would rather go about doing their work than attracting attention. Sari is something special for a woman. It makes her look more feminine. It is a feminine dress unlike pants and salwars which have been lifted out of men’s wardrobes. Hence its supreme charm.

sari, no double standards By: Kavita | Friday , 17 Jul '09 12:10:05 PM Reply | Forward Mr. Mukund Kunte - your wife wore a Paithani to stand out at the Buck Palace. Good. What did YOU wear? A traditionally tied dhoti, and bare chest, I hope?! It helped the Mahatma stand out - so the nationalist thing for you to do would be to follow 'suit' and give up your suit, surely?! As for me - I'm a young woman who prefers the salwar kameez, which has the advantages of pants and yet can suit both casual and formal occasions. But that's not the point: the point is, why the burden on women to prove their cultural identity by wearing a sari? The sari is not the same as a burqa. but the BURDEN on women (reflected in many of the letters here) to wear your religion on your body is the same: be it for a sari or for a burqa! To say 'saris are not most convenient and pants/salwar/skirts may be preferred' is seen as 'trashy' and 'un-Indian' and 'anti-Hindu'. And this attitude is no different from those who say Muslim women who give up the burqa are not 'loyal' to their culture...

sariBy: alka | Wednesday , 15 Jul '09 19:47:07 PM Reply | Forward Sari is a beautiful garment and actually very practical and comfortable for daily routine if you select right kind.These days sari is used only as fashion statement hence they have been made too complicated for routine use. Cotton saris without starch may not look very appealing to some but try wearing them at home and from personal experience I can tell you it is very comfortable.Of course Maratha style sari is just as good as Nivi(north indian)but it is not very popular because it is too revealing and does not look good on several body shapes. When you live in western country, you have to dress like women there in pants or skirts.Otherwise you stand out and get discriminated. Just like women in pants in India used to get dirty looks,and still do ,specially in rural areas.If you wear heavily embellished saris or ones with long threads on back side of woven design, it is not the fault of sari that you have problem.And the thought that Lehngas are Arabian,is totally crazy.

Unravelling the sari mythBy: Vasoo Kamulkar, London | Monday , 13 Jul '09 0:39:47 AM Reply | Forward Dear Hrishikesh, Jhansi Ki Rani was a Maharashtrian queen who draped herself in a Maharashtrian Sadi (not sari) which was suitable for horse riding. Unlike the north Indians who just wrap their six-yard sadies around the waist, Maharashtrian women wore their nine-yard sadies in a lehenga fashion. One of the possible reasons as to why a Maharashtrian sadi uniquely differed from its North or South Indian counterpart could be its historical need. The Marhattas were always on their toes (or rather on the horse- backs) because of the scourge of the proselytising Muslim invaders. I remember the raised eyebrows in Pune, Panaji and Mumbai when my generation had started ‘indira-ing’ in the mid-fifties. Lamentably, the nine-yard sadi is fast disappearing. One could still see them in the rural parts of Maharashtra and Goa and in the Bollywood films, where, the Punjabi producers relish showing their kamwali bais always in Marathi sadies. {PartI}

Unravelling the sari mythBy: Vasoo Kamulkar, London | Monday , 13 Jul '09 0:30:11 AM Reply | Forward It is no wonder then as Coomi Kapoor says that the Indian sadi is becoming conspicuously absent not only in Oxford Street and Piccadilly but also in the Asian ghettos like Southall, Wembley and Leicester. The future generations of the Hindu males will rue the day, it bids farewell. No more ecstatic moments for them to experience the grace incarnate on the shapely forms of the Mala Sinhas and Sharmila Tagores!They will have to be content with Karinas and Preity Zintas clad in loose fitting shabbily outfitted lehenga - kurtas that are Arabic in origin or in disgraceful westernised attire, that is a trouser suit or a trouser and shirt combine. An Indian genius of transcending a stitch less piece of cloth into both ‘Adhareeya’ and ‘Uttareeya’ will be the thing of the past. Ah well, must not grumble; “An old order changeth yeilding place to new.” {Part II}

Leave the Sari alone.By: Bobby | Sunday , 12 Jul '09 11:50:44 AM Reply | Forward This is the dumbest news I have read in recent times.

Sign of Slavery???By: romesh.sharma | Friday , 10 Jul '09 17:03:23 PM Reply | Forward Mr Sam neither Burqa nor Sari is sign of slavery.These and many other types of dresses have historical and traditional backgrounds.These two you mention are the product of ancient systems when woman were not that active as they are today.Moreover you will find the so-called Sari is tied/wound/wraped in different manner as per situation.It depends how the person feels wearing any dress.Above all is preserving cultural and traditional values of the Land.In India many muslim and christian women love to wear Sari.Its not compulsion but as said of independent choice to represent culture.Don't you see even in western world during marriage ceremonies or other cultural festivities the women prefer to put on traditional costumes/long rocks or maxies.What one retains has love for it and so is with me and those who love their culture would appericiate what belongs to them but without undermining or criticizing others.Mr Sarcozy is more concerned to security reasons than infringing in traditional

Sari , the wonder garmentBy: Dr. Paras Deo | Friday , 10 Jul '09 16:50:27 PM Reply | Forward Even the Kurtas in different styles and forms have been accepted by the world....but only as casuals. The sari is both for formal and for casual wear. That's great about sari...By the way did you know that the word 'Sari' is MASCULINE GENDER IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE ? Just think about it... masculine gender in intimate contact with the feminine gender ;-) Wow

Soory , but the article is piece of crapBy: Rishikesh | Friday , 10 Jul '09 11:20:45 AM Reply | Forward Sari is elegant and women choose it after a certain age as it is more comfortable and because they are proud of their culture. No body today forces youngsters to wear sari.Infact the gals are more attracted to purchase their first sari then some thing like else as soon as they et matured and consider them self fit for the attire. I think the author has comfortably forgotten Rani Jhansi who went for battles using range of clothing to suit her without any social backlash. The article is biased and without much study of the cultural values. I would dare you talk and publish some thing about burqua and head scarf which many would accept are more of imposed rather then accepeted.

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