The Dignity Of A Sari
On Saturday, I was on a 30 bus at Highbury Corner and an Indian lady of about sixty or so got off the bus and walked up the road.
She was obviously going somewhere special, as she was immaculately dressed in what looked to my untrained eye an expensive sari. She was also carrying a big bunch of flowers, so perhaps she was going to visit a friend or family for lunch.
She had this aura of dignity, that I have observed so many times in India, with women dressed in a similar way.
You don’t see Indian women dressed this way so often where I live.
The first time, I came across a lady in a sari, was when my mother had an operation for varicose veins in the 1950s. The doctor then was a very beautiful Indian lady, who used to do her ward rounds in a sari. Both my parents incidentally, thought it perfectly normal.
I also remember, when I used to work at ICI in Welwyn Garden City, that one of the team I worked with; Manju, occasionally came to work in a sari on important days, or perhaps when someone was leaving.
You don’t seem to see Indian women in the workplace these days dressed in a sari.
The Anonymous Widower 
Most of the women from that region in UK nowadays.certainly where I live, tend to Muslim and from Pakistan rather than India. They wear very beautiful shalwar kameeze, or embroidered jilbabs.
Comment by Liz P | January 7, 2013 |
Have also seen women in India, doing hard manual labour….moving rocks etc at the side of the road or on building sites…dressed in sari.
Comment by Janet | January 7, 2013 |
I have too! But that is probably more to do with India’s attitude to women.
Comment by AnonW | January 7, 2013 |