Public memory is short. The women in my family are encashing on this fact quite nicely by forming a saree-pool. Escalating prices and an economical crunch means that the women in my house do not have the luxury to buy new sarees every so often anymore. They cannot afford to compromise and wear the same sarees to more than 3 occasions and that too when they are spread over a considerable period of time. No sir, what would the other women say? [Dramatic gasp]
So they have formed a central pool of sarees, which is accessible to every female in the family. Here is how this works. The family is obviously spread all over the country. So my mom and aunts here in Doon began with exchanging their sarees with my aunts elsewhere. My mom gets her sisters' sarees and Rads mom and Monu's mom do the same. In return, they give their good sarees to their sisters or sisters-in-law. Now they have a whole pool of new sarees to wear for one season. Next, they trade with my cousins or other female relatives elsewhere.
In case the function is one where all members have to attend, the rule for preference is that the woman who is closest to the couple getting married or their family would get to choose first. That's how it works.
It is incredible to observe how women learn to survive on whatever means are available. And survive in style. Though it is also noteworthy that for one saree, almost every woman in my family- from Dehradun to Ranchi to Kanpur to Panagarh has a blouse ready.
3 comments:
I wonder how different the current world scenario would look if those silly a**es on wall street had this level of management expertise ... sigh!! *frugalism is yay*
shetu,hamara network india tak nahi hai.shayad tumko pata nahi ki punni ke saath melburn tak ye exchange chalta hai.
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