This saree number 11 of #100sareepact . It may not look like any speical saree, and also a little too bright a fanta colour for me. Very common once upon a time, but these days I see only old fisherwomen here in these sarees. But, bought this for sheer nostalgia of the days our mothers used to wear Khatau voils, famous and pemium stuff in their days. A quiet afternoon as we strolled around Fountain Anuradha Subramanyan and I saw the Khatau board and walked in surprised the showroom is still around. Front of the shop is now a souvenir shop and at the back is the old Khatau shop with few sarees and dress materials. We looked for their famous voils, didn't find any, but a 100% mercerised cotton this one, and Anu's full voil saree. I had asked them to get me also a fulll voil, they promised to get it from their storage, but the next I was there checked if they had procured it, but they had not. Though I have been going to fort regularly haven't been enthusiastic to go and find out if they have got any of their voils back. Amma had a khatau voil saree, and I wore them repeatedly during my college days, that was one of my great favorites then.
Dhonekali or Didi sarees
Incorrigible preserver .... I can't throw away things that easily. This is a Dhaniakhali (I mostly hear it as Dhonekali when spoken) #100Sareepact was bought long before it got branded as Mamta saree. They are cool, simple and inexpensive, at least not those elaborately woven Tants. Though Mamta is supposed to have revived the fortunes of these plain sarees. they are not easily available, for even in Kolkata during my last trip one had to seek them out...the shopkeeper at Gariahat asked "railway minister sarees?", (yes in 2010 she was still a railway minister). This blue and white has been with me since 1993, bought at Cottage Industries on Chowringhee...Dhaniakhali' s are special to me - the first long distance trip I ever made in life was to Kolkata in 1985, and bought two of them for a princely sum of 55 and 60 rupees. Now, I sound like "andha kalathula naan collegela padikkarppo...."
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