Sari baatein As designers present their urban chic and quirky creations, Rta Kapur Chisti shares her knowledge on traditional woven saris of India at Mumbai’s fashion week today…

Sari baatein

As designers present their urban chic and quirky creations, Rta Kapur Chisti shares her knowledge on traditional woven saris of India at Mumbai’s fashion week today…

What started as a year-long project documenting wedding saris of India, became a 20-year commitment to study, document and preserve the traditional woven sari. Rta Kapur Chisti, author of the book Saris: Tradition and Beyond, will share her insights on the world of traditional sari weaving at the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2012 today. “We thought it would take a year to chronicle wedding saris of India, and then realised that every region in India has a particular kind of sari that is found there,” says Rta, who’s travels through the country have shown her that the sari belongs to a region rather than a social strata. In addition to studying weaving and dyeing methods, the book demonstrates 108 ways of draping the sari, with step-by-step graphics. The sari is not only known by different names in various parts of the country, it is also conceived differently in form and structure, in usage and custom. It is a stretch of fabric, long or short, wide or narrow, according to the way in which it is worn. There is, in fact no “one type of sari,” Rta says. At the presentation, Rta will talk about her book and also showcase some of the saris that the handlooms make. “Our saris do not have any sort of embroidery or work on it. They are handspun natural woven patterns that we are promote,” she adds.                                             Here are some interesting sari or saree facts from Rta’s book l The modern urban way of draping the sari was first adopted by Parsis and then made popular by Gyanodanandini, Rabindranath Tagore’s sister-in-law l Different parts of the sari are woven with different structures. The border is usually thicker because it is subject to wear and tear. Most sari embellishments were originally used to provide greater strength and were not merely ornamental l An amalgamation of the British sense of modesty and the Parsis’ adaptation, the blouse is a relatively newer phenomenon l Older women in Andhra Pradesh, do not wear a petticoat and only don coarse, heavy saris in dark, ripe colours to ensure nothing shows through l The Portuguese banned sari weaving in Goa for 200 years. Weaving communities went underground and continued to service their clientele, mainly fisherwomen l Saris are usually woven in three lengths. The shortest sari is 18 inches wide and 72 inches long. The longest sari is 54 inches wide and 360 inches long. The sari was originally worn short — with a width of 42 inches l The colours of the Maheshwari sari have a distinct connotation to them. The departing bride wears green, a pomegranate pink is an auspicious wedding offering and combinations of black and red, black and yellow and red, green and black checks are for daily wear l The buti or motif in Chanderi saris was introduced to keep the weaver’s interest alive, breaking the monotony of plain weaving