I got introduced to the world of Silk Cottons because of a gift that Vidya’s mom gave me almost 8 years back. I didn’t even start using the saree till a year went by and then when I wore it, I just fell in love with the silk-cotton fabric. Since then I have bought a few, but my collection improved when I got re-introduced to Cooptex and understood the handloom world a couple of years back.
We went to the Cooptex flagship Showroom at Egmore, Chennai sometime in May 2016 and I bought a couple of Silk Cotton saris. I wore one of them on March 14th to celebrate our “meeting” anniversary. We celebrated by having an amazing lunch at Soda Bottle Openerwala and strolling around the Mall of India in Noida. Then we wanted to revisit the Osho World bookstore at Ansal Plaza. We reached Ansal Plaza only to realise that the store was no longer there !! 12 years is a really long time … we last visited in 2006. Ansal Plaza looks sad and dated.. it hasn’t managed to keep up with the changing tastes and the newer swankier malls have taken over. We just sat around in the open air theatre for 15 minutes or so reminiscing old times. Buying Osho’s picture for our Gurgaon home.. the books… meeting Swami Ravindra Bharti … working with his nephew in Spectramind… the purchases at Shoppers Stop which is now a Decathlon store.. the get together with Vishal and others at Geoffrey’s… the Marks & Spencers store and buying that orange coloured deodorant.. the dark damp parking in the basement… The only thing that has remained unchanged at Ansal Plaza is the McDonald’s store in the corner.
Time flies and memories remain to help you relive those times. Here are some pictures of the saree and our special day. The neckpiece that am wearing is from Desh Maheshwari, Noida. Krishnan chose to buy a new shoe instead of a new shirt. He is wearing a shirt that we bought from Handloom House.
A wonderful practice that Mr. Venkatesh Narasimhan, MD of Cooptex has introduced are these weaver cards that showcase the weaver who has woven this particular saree. A special thanks to Tirumati Rajamani for weaving an absolute stunner. I got a lot of compliments for the saree. The above pictures don’t do justice to the saree, so I will click another photograph when I wear the saree again.
I do wish more and more people turn to handloom sarees – they are the most inexpensive way of owning a piece of art and providing livelihood to a weaver’s family. Its also our cultural heritage and a dying art form just because we don’t have enough patrons.
I am an optimist and I do see a lot more women in sarees in the malls of Delhi NCR – so things will come around. How can the beautiful saree not become a hot fashion trend again ? Its so versatile :):).