The whole six yards

I've been thinking about the changing fortunes of the saree, the six yards of dream that has been associated with this country for centuries.

I8217;ve been thinking about the changing fortunes of the saree, the six yards of dream that has been associated with this country for centuries. The sheer magic of this material envelops the wearer and keeps her in a state of grace.

The saree covers many sins 8212; the excruciatingly thin, the uncomfortably obese, the tall, the short are attractively packaged and given a beauty and dignity that would perhaps be denied to them in other kinds of clothing. The saree enhances and mitigates. It can do casual; it can do ceremonial and there8217;s little chance of wardrobe malfunction. However, I see the saree slowly being phased out of the wardrobes of the young and the upwardly mobile, from workplaces and educational institutions. It has been pronounced inconvenient. It is now confined to party wear, and special occasions.

I am surprised at the notion that the saree is not really for the young, with the result that middle-aged housewives and ageing grandmothers are fighting to fit into jeans and skirts or the salwar kameez. Yet to me, who has grown up and lived in a saree since leaving school, I have been my indomitable self always in a saree. The saree is ultimate power dressing. Never did I feel remotely inconvenienced. On the contrary it was a pleasure to go through my extensive wardrobe of sarees 8212; cottons, silks, embroidered, diaphanous, printed, plain.

Of course, there are hints that the saree may be staging a brave comeback with fashion designers turning it out in various avatars. The saree had also to change, to innovate and break out of the mould to go contemporary. Whether it retains its original grace is a matter of debate.

To me, the saree is also an eternal thing 8212; it makes a statement of grace and femininity which is after all what a woman is all about. Anna Kournikova, Serena and Venus Williams, Cherie Blair all looked gorgeous when they donned the saree. Even the British actress Helen Mirren chose to wear a saree for the Oscars. So let8217;s bring it out of the closet and promote the saree on the streets, in the boardroom, at the party, so that it comes back into its own.