The crisp cotton saree as symbol of culture

Image Source : https://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/entrepreneurship/indian-handloom/begumpuri-cotton-saree

My introduction to the world of social work was rather coincidential, or might I say, a very gendered approach to resuming professional life after a sabattical, post maternity. Why do I say it was gendered? Well, it was because it was part time, to suit my position as a mother who had to ensure her primary responsibility of child care is not hampered, and the remuneration was not up for negotiation, signifying my financial role in my family as supplementary . My work involved desk and feild research and occasional visits along with my reporting manager for  consultations with government and civil society stakeholders in the space of child rights and child participation in law and governance. While I excitedly learnt so much about the space that I had no academic knowledge of, it also gave me my first glimpse to the world of social work beyond grassroots and more importantly, social activists who continue to dominate this space. Here I was introduced to the concept of a crisp cotton saree and the large bindi on the forehead. Over the years, working in the space, I realised how important this 'get up' was to ensure one gets noticed and heard. This ensured that our advocacy will get its due and laws and government initiatives are influenced . Although to me, cotton represented simplicity,eco friendliness and a sense of Indianness ( I am sure this is a conditioned feeling inside me)  in the sense that it promoted local artisans, that represented the grassroot level work that I participated in, I began to notice that there is a lot this cotton saree said in the way it was worn. What I also came to notice and recognised is that most of my field staff colleagues and the population that we were working for, rarely sported this garment in the socially accepted manner or opted to sport the polyester version of this garment.

 What is this "manner " of wearing a cotton saree, that we talking about ? Let's look at this aspect closely. For someone to turn out socially acceptable in a cotton saree, the following points may need to be followed:-

1. One must know the origin of the saree where it was weaved and the story behind where it was bought. Both need to sound authentic and exclusive. Buying a cotton saree at the nearest store that is not famous for a particular type of cotton saree does not make the cut for conversations that is predominantly in English. 

2. The way it is draped.... A casual throw of the pallu that is or not held by a pin . Sometimes a neatly pleated one does make the cut. However, when one needs to make a point,the lift of the pallu and placement of the same on the shoulder adds a dramatic effect to the body langauge, making it that much more desirable.

3. The blouse that is not stitched from the same saree but an 'aesthetically ' selected 'mix and match' blouse that has its own story to tell. 

4. The outfit is teamed with jewellery that matches in colour or some theme- handicraft, silver, gold that is bold yet does not take away the focus from the main outfit.

5. The sandals or footwear worn, while appears plain, has the markings of an upmarket footwear brand.

6. The big red bindi, drawing attention to markers on one's face and neck.

7. The 'crispness' of the saree, signifying the starched nature . While all other aspects of wearing a cotton saree can be ignored, turning up in a saree without it being starched is a big 'no-no'. 

These were the unsaid rules that were whispered or understood through gazes of approval or disapproval when one turns up for social events or even workplaces. One wonders whether the cotton saree was made to be worn with so much grandeur considering how this is time consuming,  needed additional resources in terms of expenditure and workforce to ensure it is done effectively( starching and ironing a starched saree). Its quite obvious who these people are who have so much time and resources in hand to engage in this manner of dress up. However, what one does wonder is, was startching the saree really something we did culturally and why is that cotton sarees are not worn by the masses when we are the largest producers of cotton in the whole wide world? This made me research further and what I found left me with mixed feelings that I continue to harber ever since I have begun my self learning journey around the intersection of caste as a central theme to culture in the context of the Indian nation state.

While saree draping sees it origin in the Indus Valley Civilisation figurines, starching is something that emerged as a cultural practice in Europe in the 16th century. According to www.oldandinteresting.com  this was seen as a mark of medieval luxury to perk up the collars and cuffs of the aristocrat men of the Victorian era. For some of us who are not aware, starching is a process where clothing, especially cotton clothing is dipped in a solution of starch after it is washed. This, when dry, gives a stiff appearance to the clothing.  This became a localised phenomena in the 19th century . I did not find any literature connecting this to an aquisition by the privileged caste group. However one can make a safe assumption that it definitely stemmed from their association with the colonisors. The validity of my assumption was ,somewhat, authenticated by a paper I chanced upon ,from my limited reach and access to research papers. ( Ramamurthy, P. (2003). Material Consumers, Fabricating Subjects: Perplexity, Global Connectivity Discourses, and Transnational Feminist Research. Cultural Anthropology, 18(4), 524–550. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3651612 ) . The author Priti Ramamurthy,  who draws her work from her interactions with the cotton farmers in Andhra Pradesh, talks about how the common cotton is not so common when it comes to mass consumer consumption. She directs us towards the popularisation of polyester sarees and it's creation that was purely driven by the 'richest' business family that is currently ruling the roost in our nation state and supported by government initiatives through the power loom projects in the name of uplifting the weaving industry. 

image source:  https://www.dreamstime.com/cotton-fields-southern-part-india-plucking-activity-flowers-andhra-pradesh-image205586494

What I have observed and what has been substantiated in this paper is how the working class woman , while she sees the cotton saree as aspiring and comfortable ,settles for the 'modern' looking polyester sarees that not only offers a wide range of colours but is easy to manage, clean and didn't need the resources and time that a cotton saree requires, to look appealing, presentable and socially acceptable. Ramamurthy draws our attention to the idea of modernity  and upward mobility that this material conveyed through advertisements and photo images where celebrities are seen wearing them. Women chose to buy these sarees even though they were aware that this material has its issues with regard to its non absorbant quality and the fact that it doesn't allow for heat dissipation. The added hazzard this material potentially has, is its highly inflammable quality and how it clings to the body when worn.  However this seems to be overlooked when it comes to cost, time and resources, making cotton sarees an exclusive garment that is worn by a certain caste /class location who have carefully appropriated this garment to their cultural identity through the socially accepted markers of this plain garment  . When one observes visual and  print media representation, cotton sarees are synonymous to brahmanical ways of culture. Hence the cultural appropriation is not just by the manner in which the saree is worn but whose body is seen draping them. The religious identity of this body is also quite clear with the markers these bodies carry- bindi, mangalsutra,etc. 

This got me thinking about how many such bodies appear quite regularly and commonly in the space of social work, signifying the kind of representation that mark the space of torchbearers of development and activism. It dawned on me why caste is still struggling to become part of our conversations when we discuss,debate and protest violence against women and children. The homogenisation of the experience of violence as an exception has given rise to many intiatives around its 'prevention' - a word that is rather misplaced considering how it places the blame on a body that faces violence - as though this has no bearing to structures and systems and is individual in nature.  The crispy cotton sarees, that often represent big banners in the space of civil society initiatives, sashay down consultations, seminars and conferences making law influencing statements that often don't connect the systemic and structural violence that women and children face, even to the making of their visual identity which is cloaked in the struggles of the cotton farmers that have been normalized since colonial times and the brashful introduction of BT cotton . The violence that women and children continue to face by virtue of their caste structure and due to the large number of suicides of male family farmers in regions that grow them, seems invisible to the very consumers of this 'common' crop .  

Does that mean we need to dismantle the crisp cotton saree as the 'appropriate' social way of presenting it in the public space? Maybe.... because ,personally the saree feels most comfortable when it is in its raw form - soft enough to absorb the sweat and wipe away the dirt and free flowing enough to hold oneself comfortably in a manner that suits one's body type. Apart from this, maybe it could be another way to destabilize the influence of caste on this clothing which has, in its warp and weave, the blood and sweat of the oppressed which cannot be erased by mere wash or straightened by a round of starch.