Art of draping a sari

Sari, an Indian traditional wear, if you are not familiar with it, you might mistake it for some fancy curtains.  Though it looks like a long rectangular piece of cloth, it is the most elegant wear known to mankind (according to me).  Well, as far as I am concerned,  it is a challenge to drape it around myself and feel totally comfortable and at ease.   Being an Indian and having seen my mom wear it everyday, I feel guilty that I don't possess the art of draping saris.   And yes, it is an art!  Not everyone can drape the sari and look good.  I try to polish my skills now and then.  I get excited, worried, tensed on the day I have to wear a sari.  The process starts a couple of days earlier.  I select the sari from my sari bank.  Trust me whenever I go to  India, especially the southern part of India, I get a sari as a gift! My husband's relatives are truly generous.  Bless their hearts.   So, first I select the sari.  Then comes my worst nightmare.  I have to hunt for the matching blouse that still fits me.  I still remember how my mom was behind the tailor to stitch the blouse right.  She would give the blouse to the tailor for stitching and then try it on and complain about the neck, the arms, the length, etc. etc.  The tailor would alter but again the same story...I felt that  no living person could stitch a perfect blouse for my mom.  I couldn't understand why she would fuss over a blouse.  After all, the whole body is covered in sari.   Over the years I have learnt the hard way that a nice, fitting and matching blouse makes a whole lot of difference. Next comes the underskirt.  That needs to be a match too!!  So, I make sure I have everything ready for the day to wear the "sari".  Now you must be thinking that the hard part is over and now only draping is left.  How I wish!  Draping a sari is a skill, art, craft and needs practice like any other art form. There are many ways to drape a sari.  Normal style with pleats in the front and about a yard of cloth left to hang back over your left shoulder.  Gujarati style where yard length of cloth  hangs on your right shoulder so that the design comes in the front . Coorgi style, Bengali style, Andhra style, Bollywood style and on and on goes the list of styles of how you can drape a sari.  And once I decide which style to drape, I have to figure out which is the border, which is the front side of the sari (one time I wore the sari and discovered that it was the wrong side as the fall of the sari was facing up :( ...  ), which end to start draping.  Then the most difficult part comes when you actually drape the cloth around you.  The pleats need to fall in place, each and every crease in the sari should be perfect and pinned so that it doesn't fall off.  Make sure the other end of the sari hangs to the desired length  and the border is displayed .  Eventually, after an hour or so when it's draped, I look in the mirror and see that the pleats didn't layer up correctly.  Disappointed in myself, I call my hubby and my daughter for rescue.  They try their best to satisfy my need to make the pleats layered.  As they try their best, my instructions increases. "Not that one, this one!"  "At the bottom."  "Little bit up."  Frustrated with my instructions, they give up and declare it looks good and we should go now or else we will be late.   Finally, I drape myself in a sari, trying to feel comfortable, elegant and lady like and step out of the house only to find a friend in the party who would very kindly, and fondly take me to an empty room and adjust the sari all over again...

(Image from google images)