September 23, 2018

Saree: Mul Cotton (Continued)

Entry number two:

Dear Diary,

So, I am back again. Had a pretty taxing day yet again with the baby chilling in the jhoola almost all the time. I kinda miss being draped around as a saree these days. But then, being the jhoola saree is not too bad either. I mean, the baby is going to remain a baby only for a short while right? Then I ll be back to saree duty. I need to cherish this new role that I have got.

Back when the mama had just got me from her grandmother, she used to love experimenting with me. Before that, I was draped by the grandma who used to wear me with perfectly matched blouses complete with fresh jasmine flowers in her hair. I had gotten used to this style.

Then, when the mama started pairing me with crop tops and snazzy blouses I was frankly scared. At one point I was thinking if I should just speak out in protest by refusing to bend for pleats. I started feeling less like a saree and more like an ‘outfit’. But later one day, my friend the Jamdani spoke to me and asked me what my problem was and why I was not able to hear the roaring compliments that people were showering generously on me every time mama styled me. It made me realise that though the pallu is meant to always cling on, the rest of the saree is meant to go with the flow and the same holds true for life as well. Always remaining safe and resisting change is actually quite a boring way to live. I realised that I could be a saree as well as an outfit and that is something I should be proud of. I felt liberated, thanks to mama and the Jamdani of course. In fact after this, I started moving towards bolder tops inside the wardrobe to give mama crazier ideas!

So, after the birth of the baby when things were starting to change I did not panic. I had learnt how to face changes. So, the new wise old me that I was, I braced myself for the impact and became the most comforting jhoola ever.

Apart from my friends in the wardrobe, I made some unusual friends outside the wardrobe too, the most unusual of them being Plastics. I mean I was packaged in plastic for brief periods in my life but the interaction I had was very less. I always eyed them with suspicion because there was just something very unnatural about them and moreover, there were rumours doing the rounds that most of them had gotten plastic surgeries done to look better than us. Hmph. As if they stood a chance.

I met a plastic bag in a corner of the living room today as the jhoola was put near to the big plastic nest; you know the old big plastic bag with hundreds of smaller ones in it. Surprisingly, the stiff lipped Plastics started making conversation. They told me all about how they came from machines and how complex their compositions were. Blah,blah, blah. But, as they told their stories further, I started to feel bad for them. Poor things were not really as unbreakable at heart as they looked. Due to improper disposal, these Plastics were contributing to air pollution, soil pollution and water pollution too! They were causing serious trouble for many species by entering into the food chain. All this is because humans do not dispose them responsibly. Some of the Plastics broke down (sorry for the insensitive pun) while speaking about how they dreaded causing harm to the ecosystem. It got me thinking, these Plastics are being branded as toxic when all they do is do their job. Humans are incredibly clever. Why can’t they find a solution for this problem? Hope they do soon.

For my part, I can help in replacing some of the Plastics by becoming your carry bag or your shopping bag after my job as a saree is done, right? Think about it people.