A Saree Story- Pleats to Profession

It's funny how I always got bored while playing hide and seek, especially the hiding part. Because I had to choose a spot to sit in one dark place without moving and making noise and pretend like I don't exist.
But soon I found a way to play that game and hide without getting bored, and guess what, no one could catch me there. That place btw became my all-time favorite spot to hide. That spot was a WARDROBE.

After finding that spot I managed to hide in my mother's or grandmother's clothes behind those hanging sarees and trust me those sarees were the best place ever to hide and entertain myself without getting caught. Such colorful and soft sarees with beautiful motifs were there just to help me kill my time and I soon started to admire and wished to drape them.

I don't even remember when was the exact first time that I wore a saree because I was too little then. But I do remember whenever in summer or during festival holidays, when my cousins would join, we would always take some sarees from the Wardrobe, hang them like curtains in all directions and make a beautiful home for ourselves. Wearing sarees in that home while playing "Ghar-Ghar" was a different kind of flex I admit.

I even used to wear Mummy's every new saree in my own style ( like superman Cape) and I would run to the terrace, so that I could feel the air passing through the Cape while jumping from the highest stairs possible. Oh I loved playing these stunts until my mom saw a new saree in beautifully torn condition. You can imagine her horror now .After that incident, I always got scolded for "the little adventures of Deeksha", with sarees.

I think I figured out the comfort and Confidence of sarees by the time I reached class 8th , trust me I was like an Ultra Pro max at wearing sarees. I once even taught my sister-in-law (newly married) to drape the sarees. How cool isn’t it?

But after few years, we stopped wearing sarees because we grew up and were exploring so many other clothing options. I do remember wearing sarees for farewell and anchoring sessions during my school functions but honestly by then I lost that feeling and that joy of wearing sarees.

So after 6 years, during my master's degree, I jumped up to the opportunity of joining KALANECA as a marketing intern, and surprisingly this is where my love and passion for sarees came back. I was working with a brand that is all about those colorful sarees, just like my mom’s sarees that were handcrafted with love in that ‘Hide n Seek’ wardrobe

For one of my assignments at Kalaneca, I had to wear a saree and share a picture in it. But that day, I wore not 1 but 5 sarees for a full day and enjoyed the thrill of wearing them, playing in them, draping it like superman Cape and jumping from the stairs, running on the terrace. The only difference was that I couldn’t hide in my Mumma's wardrobe, because I couldn’t fit in that wardrobe anymore. May be I have outgrown the feeling of bundling my emotions in a closet as I was now ready to let it free just like the pallu of a saree.

I clicked hundreds of pictures while playing "intern-intern" and shared them with my team. That was the best assignment I have ever had.

After completing my internship I visited my childhood home in the village and took many beautiful old sarees from my grandmother’s and mumma's wardrobe to wear and restyle them.

And once again when I joined the team Kalaneca as an employee, this time I styled, wore, and draped those sarees now and then in different Avatars.

For this valentine's day, I decided to relish my day with myself at home and my mother's 20-year-old saree as #OOTD and had a fun shoot focusing on the old school love we used to see in good old Bollywood movies.

I just realized while writing this blog, that every saree story has somehow given me nostalgic vibes drenching me in colourful memories of my childhood. And as I write this the twinkle in my eye is creating a gorgeous motif that holds the sands of time , a time that made me fall in love with the six yards all over again.