In Madhya Pradesh, Maheshwar is the place for Induri and her older and richer sister Maheshwari. It’s a soft, soft, soft cotton with stripes all over, sometimes little butties, and different designs on the pallu and border, khadi pallu, resham butta, fulpatti kinaar or edging etc. It takes a long time to weave these sarees and many of my friends say that they are the favourites of their Ajjis and mothers because of their softness. But if you don’t wear them and keep them unloved, well, they do tear, like the heart strings of any loved one abandoned. Nilakshi writes about one of her saris, Meghashyama, exclusively for Different Truths.

Meghashyama. That’s what she is. She brought the last big cloudburst over the third day of Ganapati. She’s the famous Induri, one that all my Arts department colleagues and I bought from Peshwayee, a leading saree store in Thane, ahead of the conference on World War I held in our college earlier this year. The choice today was guided by the occasion: Ganpati festival.

I wore it to the society Ganapati programme, enjoyed Pu La Deshpande’s Wat Wat, and felt all so very light and airy even though the fans were switched off for clarity of sound. The very light saree and the khann blouse kept me cool. I wore very Bengali gold jewellery with it. The best of the confluence of two traditions.

One usually finds these sarees in very light colours, but I loved this dark one, she called out to me from the shelves, and I took her home after a long debate, ‘yet another blue’ being the primary one…

Now, in Madhya Pradesh, Maheshwar is the place for Induri and her older and richer sister Maheshwari. It’s a soft, soft, soft cotton with stripes all over, sometimes little butties, and different designs on the pallu and border, khadi pallu, resham butta, fulpatti kinaar or edging etc. It takes a long time to weave these sarees and many of my friends say that they are the favourites of their Ajjis and mothers because of their softness. But if you don’t wear them and keep them unloved, well, they do tear, like the heart strings of any loved one abandoned.

From a website of the best place to get these sarees, “Maheshwar has been a centre of handloom weaving since the 5^th century. Maheshwar is the home of one of India’s finest handloom fabric traditions. Maheshwar is noted as a centre for weaving colourful Maheshwari sarees. These cotton saris are woven with distinctive designs involving stripes, checks and floral borders. The handlooms also make fabric material used for making kurtas and other clothing.”

©Nilakshi Roy

Photos by Kaushiki Roy and Subroto Roy

#Saree #CottonSaree #MaheswariSaree #Handloom #GanapatiFestival #DifferentTruths

Nilakshi Roy

Nilakshi Roy is an Associate Professor in English in Vaze College, Mulund, Mumbai. An occasional academic writer and poet, she writes short stories and articles. A founder of Culture All: Conversations on Cultural and Social Awareness, she works with underprivileged children and women, in Thane, in her spare time as of now. She has authored a number of papers on diverse subjects, notably on fashion, on the Saree, and the choli, and on film.

See Full Bio