My first attempt to read cloth..

Reading a traditional cloth:

I had three options a traditional Kasavu sari of Kerala, my mother’s Kancheepuram silk wedding sari and a Venkatagiri sari (given to her by my father before marriage). All three were very interesting to work on. But I decided to go with the Kancheepuram wedding sari. Since this piece of cloth had so much of significance and personal connect to my mother. 

I observed the sari for some time. I noticed that the border and the Pallu of the sari were in contrast in terms of colour to that of the body. Nice rust for the body and a parrot green for the border and the Pallu. The border extended till the end of the Pallu with tassels. The body was filled with small size gold worked bhuti. These saris are made in Kancheepuram a district in Tamilnadu. They are known for weaving the body of the sari in contrast with the border and Pallu. 

Considering its high price I understood that the silk and gold yarn used for this is very expensive, the sari is indeed worth buying for a special occasion. I am instantly reminded of a beautiful Tamil movie I saw called “Kancheepuram”, based on the life of a silk sari weaver. Mesmerised by the silk sari he weaves and being part of a poor family, he fantasizes his daughter in one of these saris for her wedding and resorts to stealing small portions of silk yarn every day. These saris were initially woven only for the royalty as they were the only ones who could afford it. But later it started entering the main market as well and more people started buying them. They definitely saved up enough money to at least own one Kanchivaram (I interpreted this term as a precious gift from Kancheepuram). 

My mother got her sari from one of the most famous shops in Chennai called “Kumaran Silks”. She bought a much simpler sari so that she could wear it even after her marriage and relive the moment each time.