C - Galore

January 13, 2004.


As I am writing this piece, I think, "why am I writing this?"
Drops of water collect to form a big water body, these small pieces,
joined together will come out as a bigger volume.


"Silly", I tell myself, "why stray and not concentrate on my
writing. If I leave it today, tomorrow may lose the essence and the
flavour of the rushing and gushing thoughts". Here I
am;


Winter mornings are so pleasant in this part of the world.
Cradling in the warmth of the sun, I sat there lazing in the easy
chair, in the eastern verandah. Chanting Hare Rama Hare Krishna, was
Titu and Mitu, the pair of parrots, moving about in their cage. These
two birds, in their pretty green feathers and a natural red ribbon
round their necks, the red beaks needed no colour touch to beautify
them.



I had a quick breakfast of bread, butter, omelette and a hot cup of tea
to wash it down. There are two wooden charpoys standing on the cemented
courtyard of the house. These charpoys have been standing there through
the years, fighting the heat, the torrential rains and the dews of the
cold winter nights. The usefulness of the charpoys is felt throughout
the year. The raw mangoes, the lime, green chilly, the sour berries,
spread out on the charpoys to dry in the sun before being garnished
with the powered spices and dipped in oil and bottled as pickles.
Pillows, quilts, cotton stuffed mattresses are laid out on these two
bedsteads from time to time. The spices are put out on these wooden
structures to absorb the heat of the sun making it easier to be powered
for use.


"Unlimited usefulness of the charpoys"' I said to myself,
"today I am going to capitalize this unlimited usefulness".



My collection of saris was going up and the older ones had to
leave their place from the shelves of the cupboard and land up in the
trunk. The sari collection made its annual appearance from their
storing place, receiving the warmth of the morning sun when I took time
out to arrange them on the charpoys. Today, the colourful collection
glided out like a pageant show, displaying the beauty and grace of
their design and texture.


In my sari collection are the Benarasi's, silks from
different states with their own identity marks, cotton saris of
different cost range, and the easy to wash and wear synthetic
ones.


Three decades, still fresh like this morning's blossom of my
garden ? when I got my first sari. I had just stepped into my teens,
wished to have my own sari, a desire of a growing girl. That day I was
there at 'Joynarayan &;amp; Sons' with my mother. This shop sold the
best saris, a wholesaler, with all the recent designs at display in his
huge showroom. Pure silks were in fashion those days and with no
knowledge about saris I took my mothers help to choose one from the lot
placed before us. It was a Kashmiri silk, and the magical part of it
was, the salesman took out his ring from his finger, holding one end of
the sari he pulled the whole length of five and a half meters through
the small ring. "This shows the quality of the silk. Only a Kashmiri
silk is so fine, soft and smooth", he said. Without hesitation, Ma
bought the first sari for me, I know it was very expensive, but this
did not bother me, my pocket was not cut. I wore this sari for the
first time on my sister's wedding, and behold, what grace this sari
brought to my teen personality, I looked older and saw boys and young
men sending longing glances.


Out of my teens I started wearing sari's, often. The pile
rose gradually with every purchase.


It is a hard task, taking out the huge stock of the old and
the new ones, and putting them back ? time consuming ? but they need to
be cared for. Till today I have my first sari in my collection ? my
pride, my first love. The cupboard walls are happy to get the smell of
my body that goes with every sari I use and put back in place. I have
about a dozen new ones waiting to wrap round my body but they need to
be made ready for use ? the sari falls stitched, the ends given the
picot finish, matching blouses to go with each of them and an occasion
to wear.


I took trouble to put out the pickle jars in the sun, careful
that moulds did not grow on these spicy homemade stuff.


Titu and Mitu got a special turmeric-water bath. Gave them a
few green chilly's to feed on and their favourite fruit ? ripe
kundri's.


Went to the Super Market and paid a big amount for my
purchase.


The thought of my saris is still lingering in my mind. I
don't want to dream about them but have a sound sleep, as I will have a
busy day tomorrow.