Of races, genders and sarees!

As I was reading a book called “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini on my balcony swing chair the other day, lost in deep thoughts reflecting on a sentence I had just read, I looked up from the pages. The first thing I noticed hazily was a creeper blissfully making its way from our garden to our neighbor’s – Ms. Rose – if you’d like to know her name. Surprisingly, for no apparent reason, THAT felt WRONG. As though the plant wasn’t allowed to cross the boundary of its home. As though, the other owner would be displeased at this rebellious movement. As though…before I could finish the thought, I saw a stunning purple-rumped sunbird feeding on nectar and flying to the next flower as soon as it was done with one. Mark this – it was free to feed from whichever flower drew its attention irrespective of whose garden it belonged to. The bird was FREE! Without being able to remember the cause of my initial distraction, I went back to my book, to Mariam, Zalmai, Laila… not knowing that the sun was about to set when I heard the sharply penetrating sound of brass bells (‘ghanti’) from a nearby house – an auspicious ritual performed by some Hindus before their evening puja. Around the same time, Ms. Rose put aside her Holy Bible and came out for a stroll, caught sight of the visiting plant and merely smiled. The creeper knew it had been warmly welcomed. My worry suddenly found no real base then.

You see, most of us are fed with boundaries based on religion, race, culture and language since childhood. Some of us question it as we grow up, some disregard it completely and yet some simply accept and move away from the discussion all their lives. Every evening while walking through the streets, I found myself amazed at the mixture of religions, customs and languages permeating the air. Despite our seemingly endless differences, day after day all of us carried a similar aura of incompleteness, positive but still incomplete, of the works in progress that we were, each an unfinished masterpiece in the making.

Every country in the world - old or new - has a rich, storied history. A history independent of another's and so fascinating and powerful that it passes on from generation to generation while making a deep-rooted home in every heart of that nation! Can you imagine how varied and unique even the ones unknown to us must be? Now imagine all these diverse backgrounds merging into one – much like our sarees though – each thread being of supreme importance and yet as they merge into one layer of clothing they give birth to a fresh new perspective. They may individually look poles apart but when we understand each one and bridge the gap, it feels like the world has come closer together and we begin to see more similarities than differences. God never created fences or boundaries to contain our nationalities or our true selves then why should our minds be constrained by them? Why can’t ONE LOVE and ONE TRUTH rule our hearts and all our tribes come together to intermix colors to reveal a new rainbow world…ah, “what a wonderful world” it shall be in Louis Armstrong’s strong, reverberating voice! Almost as though our wishes were heard and prayers answered, these darlings have made all those dreams come true. They've blended their own selves and imbibed a touch of our sarees and it's been a while we've seen something so delightful, so optimistic, so real. It is an honor of the infinite order to have been able to make a mark, however tiny however insignificant, beyond the margins of borders and races and the-what-nots! And we have you beautiful humans to thank for that. After all, no matter what they say, at the end of the day when the whispers carried by the winds die down, your happiness is paramount!

1. Your aura gives us hope of a future as bright and beautiful as you are as a human being! All hail you fierce, intense, brilliant, gorgeous, absolutely incredibly insanely wonderful queen @yyyyyrtm

 

2. With so many weddings being postponed and hearts heavy with anticipation, it is miraculous to see couples make it work through it all! Where there's a will, there's a way and here comes a beautiful wedding day! ❤ Saroopa and Cedric have not only broken down the imaginary walls that only us humans have created, but also given us new goals of love, of togetherness, of belonging to achieve. This is hope of a bright and beautiful future that we all want and truly deserve. @alliesiarto has captured these precious moments in the most affectionate and enchanting manner! Tears started to well up as I was going through these pictures and trying to write these emotions down. May there be love and light and immense happiness in the lives of these newlyweds. Our darling bride looks ethereal in Suta. The saree she has draped goes by the name “Morning Glory Muffin”

3. @yukolovessarees is one the sweetest, most lovable life force of a person whose very presence will put you in a buoyant mood! She approaches you with a smile as luminous and warm as sunshine and one can't help falling in love with her over and over again. Each time she draped a Suta, she miraculously managed to create a new Universe that's delightful to look at and wholesome to feel. You are a darling, you know that right? Muah!

4. @totck – it’s absolutely blissful to see you carry Suta with swag and enthusiasm! Thank you for taking our sarees all around the world and looking fabulous as you do. Loads of love from the other end of the world.

5. @arianeceramics – Darling Ari writes a note sweeter than honey and fresher than the spring flowers that enhances the value of her lovely pictures by many times!! It says – “His great-grandmother plays tennis in a 9-yard saree in Chennai, 100 years ago. 10 years ago met on a tennis court in Sydney. Now we’re getting to know our first baby in San Francisco so this felt like the right spot to celebrate.” we are so very happy for you guys!!

Juggling with these freshly found ideas of cross-cultural bonding, I happened to realize something else – an issue far from being addressed or even being openly talked about. The glaring sets of eyes on men wearing sarees or women not wearing them!! Strange to the point of utter disbelief but yet true. We shall not talk about it either. We will show you. ☺

Everyone was busy telling everyone else how somebody else should or should not be dressing. Then one day these brave and gorgeous men came along and showed us how it's done! They didn't have to say a word. All they did was cast their spell on us with the warmth in their smiles, confidence in their draping styles. Wonder how you knew all this time that a saree, unlike our society, does not judge. It leaves so much space to explore and reinvent that it hardly leaves any for judgments! Your spirit is just as free-flowing and lively, and it gives us immense pleasure to see you in Suta! Let love rule between both ends of the flowing fabric of the saree – you and us. @curryngin @gopi_spot @premsahoo_odissi @the_ordinary_bald_head you guys are simply rockstars in our world!