BHARATI PAWASKAR
It’s a colourful, dream,-delicately hand-woven with cotton and silk, and embroidered with intricate zari kashidakari - draped gracefully to cover the feminine body aiming to enhance its beauty all the more. That’s saree - the popular Indian attire that diverse cultures thriving in Bharatvarsh have embraced as their own and nurtured through the centuries keeping the spirit behind it vibrant and alive. Today, the love for saree has found a global expression. Around 1,02,000 enthusiastic women across the globe who have fallen in love with this six- to-nine yard fabric, that has brought them together under a banner - Saree Speak, thanks to Vini Tandon Keni, a saree aficionado from Goa.
It’s Vini who took the initiative to create ‘Saree Speak’ - an active Facebook group for saree lovers in April 2016. It has now turned into a global movement. “As a graceful dress, saree speaks for itself and often, serves as a perfect ice-breaker to start a comfortable conversation between two unknown women. It takes away the awkwardness and brings women on a uniform platform even if they meet for the first time,” says Vini.
Saree has gained respect through centuries. Though with time, the style of draping it may have altered, but the spirit behind wearing it has remained untouched. “You may not be wearing a saree on a daily basis but if you have anything to say on this traditional Indian wear, you are welcome in the group,” smiles admin Vini who is currently busy in making arrangements for the group’s upcoming meet in Goa on December 29 when 250 members of her FB group will be gathering in the gardens of the Panaji Gymkhana at Campal to participate and enjoy the ‘Goa Zatra’.
Goa Zatra’ will recreate a village zatra scene, with khajekars, chanekars, piddukars selling their goods on stalls. There would be various games played at the venue, and dance performances by the women who would be flying in from different places. For instance, Aruna Bhat, a bindi artist from Mumbai is arriving to adorn the foreheads of the women.
The members have been offered home-stay by group members living in Goa. “This home-stay offer popped up in our minds considering the fact that the year-end crowd will occupy most hotels, and the prices would be high too. So, we thought of extending classic Goan hospitality,” explains Vini.
‘Saree Speak’ is an attempt to revive the culture of draping sarees and to offer a common platform to women to share their love and respect for saree.
Savita Suri is the handloom Guru of the group. She has the best handloom collection of sarees in her wardrobe and enjoys sharing her knowledge with others. ‘Saree Speak’ is on Instagram and Twitter too with over 300 posts pouring in per day.
Vini and her co-admin Ranju Chawla from Delhi, have five moderators to help out with filtering and selecting posts for publishing on the page. The moderators from Bangalore, Kolkata, Gujarat, Mumbai and Nepal, upload approximately 80 per cent of the posts. There are strict rules in place regarding what posts can be uploaded on ‘Saree Speak’ which are compulsorily followed by all.
The group is non-commercial and the members are not allowed to mention the sources of their saree or jewellery while posting photos of a saree. Religion and politics is a strict no no. “We are a bunch of positive thinkers who do not allow negativity to seep into our posts. Only likes are allowed and no ‘hate mails’ are entertained. The members cannot dislike a post, and cannot be rude while commenting on another member’s post. These rules have allowed us to spread positivity and forge a close-knit bond with each other which is of utmost importance,” maintains Vini.
‘Saree Speak’ is a global platform where intercontinental friendships have blossomed. Since its inception, the FB group has had around 30 meets at different places including Hong Kong, Singapore, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Dubai, Bangkok, Sydney, etc. Vini has personally attended all the meets in India, and two abroad - at Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
“It was our meet on January 6, 2018 in Goa which gave momentum to the thought of having a grand year-end meet in Goa,” recalls Vini who sets monthly themes - such as wearing a particular colour or weave, or flaunting a vintage saree etc. The picture posted need to be clicked on the same day. All types of sarees are welcome. Also, the women members can be of any age, religion, ethnicity or country. There are a few foreigners who often post their pictures wearing saree. Tanmeimei, a Malaysian and Stacy Jacobs, an American wear sarees more than an average Indian woman. Khushi Dawda admits that after she joined ‘Saree Speak’ she wore maximum number of sarees than ever and Rashna Zaveri wore her first saree after being associated with the group.
Vini admits to borrowing the concept of ‘Saree Speak’ from other women’s groups of similar nature and her efforts are bearing colourful fruits. Indeed, a saree has lot to speak and share, if only one listens to her whispers.
