#sareespeak

#womenofsareespeak

#disneyprincesses

#silk

#internationalwomensday

Disclaimer – a collage of old sarees, please allow this for Women’s Day.

This picture kept popping up on my newsfeeds, whatsapp and the various social media I subscribe to.
On a whim, I asked my little one to find me some photos of myself to match the ladies’ costumes.
Unsure if I was thrown any weird ‘omg amma’ looks, but when you’ve been a mum to two camera savvy young ladies, you tend to selectively decide what you need to bother about.
An hour later, something beeped. Was going to ignore it.
Just to fill you in on my need to ignore my notifications if i haven’t muted them. Hubby and I are part of myriad whatsapp groups – his side, my side, my sisters, his sisters, his cousins, my cousins, my various veena groups, my All veena group, my weight watching friends, my daughters only group, the four of us group, Need I go on? That’s not the end of it though, everyone hails from different time zones, so when We do decide to look at our devices, we have an avalanche of 83 messages from his side, another 70+ from mine, and that too from a group that may have celebrated an office reunion.
Strayed too much, coming back to
The Beep.
Saw this photo collage. Thrilled at first, then the vain streak that runs on my side of the family took over. Texted her – she’s in the next room, mind you, as to why she had chosen those particular photos. A text zoomed in instantaneously, if texts could talk, this would weep in frustration. The text insisted that those were the most relevant photos with the most apt colours.
So here I am draped in a green checked jute silk, a yellow tussar silk, a teal, light blue linen, a red cotton silk and a deep blue cotton silk. To emulate the feisty Disney Princesses.
To celebrate Women, Us, in our many Roles, Avatars.
Not just the career women, the policy makers, the professionals, the academics, the CEOs,
But
The makers and growers of these women,
The Grandma who regaled me with stories of her many childbirths. I know, not really a bedtime story you’d tell a granddaughter, but my family does have a twisted sense of child rearing as you may have gleaned from my previous posts. About how she’d wake up grandad only after she’d got the clean towels ready, water boiled, and he’d grumble, then ride off to get the midwife.
The Mum who told me how her father had torn up her teacher’s training college acceptance letter as ‘girls needn’t be so highly educated’. The same mum who lost her husband to cancer at 35, and raised three strong successful young women.
The Aunt who recounted the tale of her getting on board a plane to the UK, the first in her family to do so, to complete her nursing degree in the late 60s.
The Sister who is a consultant, pathologist, academic professor, who still comes home to take her children for classes, cleans the bathrooms, folds and irons clothes, takes care of her mother and mother in law. (By the way, this sister has a part time maid and prefers to clean the bathrooms before the maid does them, I have no clue why?!)
The Teacher who tirelessly explained the intricacies of integration by trigonometric substitution.
The Music Guru who patiently changed all the strings on the veena two nights before a performance.
The Dance Guru who sewed costume hems, ironed dance saree pleats and force fed bhadam kheer.
This institution of Wonder Women should be saluted,
The ones who emanated strength with their words, actions, as they oiled and braided plaits, woke their daughters at 4am to study, with hot cups of milo, cooked wholesome healthy meals and stayed awake as their daughters burnt the midnight oil during exams,
This day is
For Them,
For Us too and
For the Daughters of our future.
We cannot exist without each other, we are too invested in each other and inextricably entwined, intertwined.

Happy International Women’s day to
Each and Everyone of you,
And the Women in your lives who have touched you in any minute way.

If interested to read more,
Here’s a link to a speech my feisty Disney Princess wrote sometime ago on the New Age Disney Princesses.

Disney Princesses – A Daughter’s Perspective