I want my wedding to be special. I want everything on my wedding day to have meaning.
Sue had to meet the students for whom her organization conducts sessions. After a long session in a dingy madarassa, we decided to take a walk in the community. The community is a settlement of weavers. They weave sarees on power looms and handlooms. One uncle who sat through Sue’s entire session, invited us home. He has been a weaver since the time he was a little child. His daughters sat in the house and decorated a saree. Uncle showed us some pieces of cloth and forced Sue to keep one. She refused to take it and I wondered if it was a good thing to do. She explained that it hurt her to take something that requires days to make, for free. I reasoned that, when someone gifts us something, we elevate the position of the giver by humbling receiving. Finally, Sue relented and accepted the gift. They also packed a separate piece for me! I received it humbly and greedily. I am a sucker for freebies!
I wanted to understand the concept of handloom and power loom better and went into one of the ‘factories’ to see it. As I saw the handlooms, I felt like I was transported into a different world in a different time. Watching the absolutely fine threads of silk coming together to create a tight fabric was… eye opening and philosophical. When was the last time you examined a piece of cloth and identified every thread? I have been doing it every single time since yesterday!
I walked further looking at the sarees which were at different stages of completion and the experience of a life time was waiting for me. A handloom saree takes 15 days to be completed and as I walked in, one weaver just finished the saree and was cutting it off the loom. It was ready. I felt like I had witnessed the birth of a baby, the first flight of a butterfly and immediately got emotional. I wanted to take the saree home and wear it on my wedding day. I felt like the saree was mine.
I could not take it home as the sarees are pre-ordered and the actual owner is waiting for it patiently.
It was not the best looking saree… but it held meaning for me and suddenly its beauty was unparalleled. No, I couldn’t buy it. Its role was just that, to come into my life and be part of it. As a beautiful memory!
(P.S. I am not getting married any time soon!)
Sue had to meet the students for whom her organization conducts sessions. After a long session in a dingy madarassa, we decided to take a walk in the community. The community is a settlement of weavers. They weave sarees on power looms and handlooms. One uncle who sat through Sue’s entire session, invited us home. He has been a weaver since the time he was a little child. His daughters sat in the house and decorated a saree. Uncle showed us some pieces of cloth and forced Sue to keep one. She refused to take it and I wondered if it was a good thing to do. She explained that it hurt her to take something that requires days to make, for free. I reasoned that, when someone gifts us something, we elevate the position of the giver by humbling receiving. Finally, Sue relented and accepted the gift. They also packed a separate piece for me! I received it humbly and greedily. I am a sucker for freebies!
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| Eyeing the Gifts :) |
I walked further looking at the sarees which were at different stages of completion and the experience of a life time was waiting for me. A handloom saree takes 15 days to be completed and as I walked in, one weaver just finished the saree and was cutting it off the loom. It was ready. I felt like I had witnessed the birth of a baby, the first flight of a butterfly and immediately got emotional. I wanted to take the saree home and wear it on my wedding day. I felt like the saree was mine.
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| Master Weaver cutting the Saree off the Loom |
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| What goes into a Saree |
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| Labour of Love! |
I could not take it home as the sarees are pre-ordered and the actual owner is waiting for it patiently.
It was not the best looking saree… but it held meaning for me and suddenly its beauty was unparalleled. No, I couldn’t buy it. Its role was just that, to come into my life and be part of it. As a beautiful memory!
(P.S. I am not getting married any time soon!)
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