Was watching Sonia Gandhi protest outside the Parliament last week. She was wearing mostly checks, and one she wore perhaps on the#NationalHandloomDay was an Andhra double ikat. Not sure if she has ever talked about sarees, or told anyone about what she likes, or what she inherited, learnt from her mother in law on the Indian handlooms of which she was great patron and together with Pupul Jayakar did quite a lot of work on government support to handlooms and handicrafts. Not to forget the veteran who was there in the field much before IG and Pupul, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya. A digression - Gopal Gandhi's 'Of a Certain Age' has a nice sketch of Chattopadhyaya. One leisurely Saturday afternoon as I shopped while waiting for my friend Indhu Radhakrishnan to come to M.G.Road, at Prasiddhi, the only place I have bought sarees from in Bangalore. The shop is proud of its legacy as a supplier to Gandhis starting with IG. But, IG used to visit Bangalore, personally buy sarees, but we have never met or had Sonia or Priyanka here, the person at the counter said. Well, here is one I bought that evening from Prasiddhi #100Sareepact, a simple half and half south cotton (for lack of a particular label, a complaint I have against many popular shops), matched with khun blouse.

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