A fashion statement and unique apparel by itself, sareeing has always been an exciting affair to me.
Especially after moving to the United States of America where I thought saree draping was completely out of choice as apparel.
I still remember those days when I was around 6 years to 7, and when I used to sneak into my mom’s closet to drape her fancy sarees and look at myself in the mirror when she was away from home. The joy and excitement I felt back then are the same now, when I drape a saree for any occasion.
Initially when I moved to the USA, I felt that I would forget the art and skill of draping a saree, because it wouldn’t be an everyday attire to wear on,nor would I be able to get out of the house draping a saree. The myth and belief that all my wedding sarees would be wasted was then waived off, when I slowly started draping sarees for small pooja (Hindu Prayers), Temple visits or even for festivities like Diwali and Navarathri. I found a few saree groups on Facebook, where saree draping and clicking pictures to send them in those groups was fun. I found back my enthusiasm for saree draping, and slowly saree draping became a passion to me, I made sure to put use all the sarees I had in my closet. There was one particular group on Facebook where a moderator of the group volunteered and asked the members to participate in saree draping on all the 9 days of Navarathri in the month of October, to drape a particular color of saree on a each day of Navarathri. It was like a time table to follow, sounds fun right!
Yes, it was absolute fun and an exciting experience to choose a saree for the day corresponding to the particular color, also to choose the matching accessories for my saree, I made sure to arrange all my 9 sarees according to the color scheme and also made sure to arrange the respective accessories. Since it was the first year I made sure that I have the colors of saree to coordinate with the particular color of the day. I am so proud that from then I have followed this for Navarathri, 3 years in a row, and I can’t wait for this year to continue the tradition for the 4th consecutive year.
I also found another Facebook private group that is run by an amazing admin exclusively for saree draping and especially when it was created during the covid pandemic year, it was a great start for virtual saree meet-up, where we had zoom video calls and we ended up playing games, singing and dancing online, it was a pleasure socializing with women even though we couldn’t get out of the house, and now these events have changed into in-person meetings and have started meeting up on a weekend every month, where we have a theme to drape a saree and coordinate with other women.
The fun and joy of saree draping have now doubled. For the same group during the pandemic, I draped a saree and performed yoga moves for a contest and won the 2nd position. It was a moment of pride, not because I won a gift, but because I was able to carry a saree with ease and grace while performing the most difficult yoga moves.
I also recently had this amazing opportunity to attend an Indian wedding function of my husband’s office colleague with family. I draped a soft silk saree in baby pink and matched a dark pink blouse with matching accessories.
Needless to say, a saree is always an attire that makes a woman feel like a queen, and the elegance that it gives is at par with beauty. Thank you so much Sareeing Official for giving me a chance to pen about my Saree draping experience.