Apologia Pro Vita Sari

                                                                  Apologia Pro Vita Sari*

*(The title is a take-off from Cardinal Newman’s Apologia pro Vita Sua which when translated reads “Defense of one's life: a written justification for one's beliefs or course of conduct)                                          

The news report about IIM (Ahmedabad) female graduates opting to appear in sari for the placement interviews made interesting read. For the first time, IIM(A) had given the nod for the recognition of sari as a formal wear for business interviews. This is a refreshing change from the unwomanly business suits that our fair sex executives have been sporting for their corporate offices. Just as Newman wrote his great book to justify his beliefs, this piece is intended to justify the worth of sari in today’s world.

 The word sari is a corrupt form of Sati from Sanskrit and Prakrit meaning a strip of cloth. It had an early mention in the Jatakas, the Buddhist Jain literature to describe women’s attire in ancient India. The sari developed as a graceful garment in both South and North India at around the same time, and is now regarded as an epitome of Indian culture. The sari stands as a symbol of grace that adequately covers women while displaying the curves at the right places.

But in the last few decades, more so after the economic liberalization of the 1990s, sari has yielded its place to western attire in the Indian corporate world. In fact, the idea of Indian woman outside home and in a workplace is primarily due to the western influence.  Female education and employment began in the 19^th century during the British regime. Post Independence, women’s education and employment have expanded and a section of Indian women--the elite and the upper middle class-- have moved forward considerably. Thanks to the exposure to global network, more women are engaged in business enterprises and have greater career opportunities both in the private and public sectors. More and more women have taken to the western attire citing convenience at the place of work (no one wonders how sari does not hinder work in the kitchen). Today apart from women executives, those engaged in front offices in the corporate sector and those engaged as personal secretaries to corporate honchos have gone for a complete makeover with the poor sari relegated to home wear  by maids and stay home women. It is a sad commentary on the mindset of corporate and business industry as they insist on a dress code modelled on western outfits.

I am not critical of all that is western. In fact Western literature, music and theatre have been my intellectual and emotional companions. But when it comes to dress, I hold sari as a supreme and fascinating invention of human creativity. I am not a conservative prude who wants our women to go behind the gunghat. But I am certainly an aficionado of tasteful dressing that combines aesthetics with feminine grace. The Kiss principle (keep it simple and sophisticated) of design   seems to have ignored the elegance of sari in the workplace as it is applied only to business suits, skirts and blouses.

Shakespeare said :  ‘Apparel oft proclaims the Man’.  It is true of the woman as well.  But modern woman is more tuned to another Shakespearean aphorism that says: ‘Every time a woman leaves off something she looks better, but every time a man leaves off something he looks worse.’ Hence she has chosen to leave off sari that drapes her fully with the possible exception of the midriff that is covered by the elegant blouse making everyone trying to imagine ‘choli ke peechay kya hai’. But the skirts – most of them mini or midi –do not leave anything for imagination and curiosity.  It was Anatole France who said that ‘to imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all’.  And as imagination attempts to capture things unknown, sari gives to women an individuality and a mystery that is unique and distinguished.
The western attire looks best on women who have the perfect figure with the right degree of slimness and height, preferably size zero. But sari is a dress for all size and figures.  It is long enough to cover the subject and short enough to provoke interest. It reveals the curves as much as it conceals them. Unlike the business suits that tend to be stiff and linear, sari with its free fall makes it flexile and curving that enhances feminine grace. It is also a dress for all seasons.  During winter it gives the protective warmth; in summer it protects the skin from the scorching heat.

But more than anything, it stands to reason for women to have their own unique identity by having a dress of their own without shining in borrowed male attire.  Let Indian women return to Sari with its exclusivity, glamour, charm and grace to make a style statement.  With its unique draping style, sari transforms a woman into a diva- ‘feminine, classic and confident’.