Everywhere that Madhavi went…,

 

The Saree was sure to go!

After a long long time I had packed a skirt, a pair of trousers, a couple of shirts and one dress in my bag. Rest of it was sarees. Each day during the trip when I opened the bag I saw the alternate options and yet my hands reached out to the sarees. Surprised? Not me. You reach out to where you feel love. Where you feel yourself the most. 

One day it was an earthy kotpad, next day a humble Jagatsingpur ikat, then a heavy kala cotton Bhujodi, followed by a mulberry silk Ajrakh, next a favorite brown cotton from Karnataka, succeeded by a cotton Bengal jamdani, a printed kalamkari. A pale khadi colored cotton paithani seemed suitable to flaunt on the birthday that happened while on vacation. 

But the special appearance was reserved for the exquisite Odisha ikat with a jungle theme. It mirrored species that roamed alive around me during that trip. The lions, elephants, deer, birds. The saree got a chance to shine where it fitted best. If it had a voice it would sing with joy. 

Of course the attention was always on the outdoors and we were hardly stepping outside the safari vehicle when on the game drives. Hence some sarees didn’t even make it to a decent picture or even a single picture. Yet they were part of a memorable experience that comes once in a lifetime. I wouldn’t change anything. Except may be next time I will not bother to pack the skirt, trousers or dresses.