Photo by White Star
Photo by White Star

There was a time in Pakistan when women on the streets could be seen in saris, as also in shalwar kameez, bell-bottom pants, burqas and dresses. Men didn’t ogle at them. Right up to the late 1970s saris were a rage. It wasn’t that the sari came with the immigrants across the border, or was confined to the Bengalis, but women all over the subcontinent wore the sari gracefully, some as evening or formal wear, while others wore the seven-yards of this unique, un-sewn fabric as daily wear.

Gen Mohammad Ayub Khan’s daughter of Pathan origin would always be seen in silk saris by her father’s side on official occasions. Perhaps those were acquired from Rajshahi in Bangladesh (East Pakistan at the time) —famous for silk saris. Dhaka has been famous for its muslin and Jamdani saris. Later we saw Nusrat Bhutto of Iranian origin wearing saris elegantly, more than any other outfit.

During the military rule of Ziaul Haq (1977 -1988), art, culture and freedom — particularly women’s freedom — took a nosedive. This included how the sari was viewed. The dress was seen through a new lens — the bare midriff placed under a moral microscope, the dress considered more ‘Indian’ than Pakistani. One wonders why, by the same token the national language Urdu was not termed as one that came from across the border.


The seven-yard unstitched cloth makes waves like no other dress


The democratic set-up of neither Benazir Bhutto nor Nawaz Sharif helped matters around women and saris. Our daughters were not empowered and our sons were not held accountable for their actions or taught to respect women. In fact, nothing was done to change the misogyny around the sensuous yards of the sari, very much a part of our heritage, which perhaps got wound up in political tumult, confusion, disorder and, above all, hypocrisy.

The sari has been worn in South Asia for the last 5,000 years. Back in ancient India, cloth cut and pierced by needles was considered impure and unholy. The Muslims had brought the ghagra to the subcontinent and the petticoat was inspired from that, and the blouse came about much later, after the arrival of the British.

In her book, The Sari, Linda Lynton writes: “Increasing numbers of upper-class women in the early 20th century did adopt such items of European-style clothing as the fitted blouse and slim petticoat, in part because transparent chiffon saris became fashionable. In fact, today’s modern style is as modern as the movies; for although the wives of India’s rajas draped their chiffon saris — which were made by Paris designers in the 1920s and 1930s — it was not until the stars of the Bombay film world started emulating their dress that mainstream India became aware of it.” Saris are worn in many other countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

My own romance with the sari is old, and my reason for wearing this ancient unstitched dress remains multi-fold: firstly, it was the grace, poise and charm of other sari-clad women in the family that led me to believe that I too could look like them. Saris hardly ever age; therefore it has been much cheaper to invest in saris than say in shalwar kameez, as their trends keep changing. Moreover, cotton saris are a boon to wear in the long and hot summer months. The dhobi charges for washing saris are still incredibly nominal, and I get to wear crisp, starched saris without having to iron them. The sari does not even slow me down; I maintain the same pace wearing a sari as when I’m wearing any other type of dress. I also like to believe that my flab gets somewhat concealed in the folds of the sari!

Although some sari materials, and the way they are draped, have been in and out of fashion a few times, the classic materials and the classic methods still enjoy popularity. The Nivi style is common among urban women, whereby the pallu (end-piece) is draped over the front left shoulder so the end hangs down the back. The Gujarati and Parsi style of draping the pallu in the front is followed by some. The Parsi Gara saris have distinctive borders with embroidery inspired from Chinese motifs.

The half-sari is a combination of a full-length skirt or ghagra with a dupatta / orhni tucked into it and one end draped over the left shoulder like a sari’s pallu. It is commonly worn in Pakistan’s Tharparkar region and India’s Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana, and has now been adopted by the Hindi film industry. Deepika Padukone wore the half sari in the film Chennai Express, therefore it has come to stay and we see them making an appearance at mehndis as well.

Heavily embroidered as well as hand-woven Banarasi saris made in Orangi Town are still the favoured wedding-wear for many Pakistani women. Orangi Town in Karachi is far from the ancient city of Banaras, and across the border, but the sound of looms that weave the Banarasi sari fills the homes of the poor weavers. These saris fetch thousands of rupees in the up-scale shops but weavers are paid a pittance by the middle-men. Saris are also woven in power looms in mills.

The Ikat and Gujarati Patola have elaborate and intricate designs in fiery colours, resist-dyed into warp and weft threads prior to weaving. Transparent chiffon saris have remained in fashion for many years now and the titillating designs and colours of the Chundri or Bandhani (tie and dye) saris that were worn by women of all religions and castes, mainly in Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan, and in Rajasthan and Gujarat in India, still steal the show. Lately, cotton saris done in vegetable dyes with ajrak prints have also become available. Ajrak printers from Sindh’s interior bring a limited number of saris to the city for their few clients.

Martand Singh and Rta Kapur Chishti write on the first page of their voluminous book Saris — Tradition and Beyond, “It is the past with a possibility for the future.” I, too, continue to believe that the drape, folds and pleats of the sari may be disciplined but it makes waves like no other dress.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 21st, 2016

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