Q1.
In the above pictures, can you recognise what a sari has been used for?
Answer
The six photographs in Fig. 8.4 (pages 130–131, all from south India) each show the sari doing a job that has nothing to do with dressing.
| # | What the picture shows | The sari is being used as a… |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A red sari knotted to a low branch in an orchard, hanging in a deep loop, with a baby asleep inside it | cradle or hammock — the child sleeps in the shade while the mother works nearby |
| 2 | A woman standing waist-deep in a pond, dragging a stretched orange sari through the water | fishing net — the fine weave traps small fish and prawns |
| 3 | A woman crossing a field with a heavy brass pot on her head, resting on a thick coil of cloth | head-pad — the cloth is twisted into a ring that steadies the pot and cushions the weight |
| 4 | Two people seen from above pouring grain from a measure into a red sari held stretched open | container and sieve — grain is caught, carried and cleaned in the held-out cloth |
| 5 | A woman in the rain pulling the orange end of her sari up over her head with both hands | umbrella — shelter from rain, and on other days from the sun |
| 6 | A woman lying on the grass in a field, resting her head on a spread checked cloth, cattle grazing behind her | mat or bedsheet — a clean place to lie down and rest in the open |
Why one garment can do all this: because the sari is unstitched. A stitched dress has one shape and one purpose. Six metres of loose cloth can be knotted, stretched, coiled, held open or spread flat — so it becomes whatever the moment needs. The chapter's larger point is the same: the fewer the fixed rules, the more forms a thing can take.