Entrepreneur Sunita Budhiraja speaks to Saritha Saraswathy Balan on her passion for sari and how it has made her to start a campaign for the outfit
Your attire is a statement of what you are rather than mere clothing. For Sunita Budhiraja, it is more than just a signature of individuality, maybe life itself. Her passionate love for the sari, which she has donned for the past 40 years, has finally translated into an online campaign on Facebook #SixYardsAnd365Days for the traditional Indian outfit.
Sunita’s larger vision is to revive the weaving community that has millions of members in India, and to protect the weaves and heritage saris that are on the verge of extinction.
The campaign which she began with just four members about a year ago has become a massive hit on social media with 8,438 members. More than half of them are under 45 years of age. She dreams of making the attire a habit for younger generations who would carry the legacy forward. Talk to her, and she amazes you with plenty of anecdotes on saris, just like someone who loves to share little tidbits about her naughty grandchild who is the centre of her world.
“Every other attire which you wear can become short or long; even the human skin changes, but sari remains the same-six yards. Sari comes very naturally to me. I didn’t take on to other dresses, once in a while during winter or snowfall I did wear trousers though. But I am not comfortable wearing them. At home also I tried to wear sari, that too handloom every time. I am also keen to know from which loom it came or from where; Kerala or Bengal,” she says. Sunita is an entrepreneur with 42 years of experience in communication industry and also an author of many books.
“The discussions in our FB group have helped in building interest for handloom. Weaving community is large with 49 millions of people. Whether they are poor, very poor or extremely poor they are very kind and genuine. They are not being paid well. They don’t get recognised. What we can do is to support them. It’s our heritage. I have traveled abroad and I know how much respect we get in saris. It would be great if women who are slightly younger to me, start wearing saris and taking it to the next generation,” she adds.
“The group has become mature. I scrutinize every request to join the group. By the end of the year some 400 or 500 more people would be added. We engage in very healthy discussions about various varieties of saris, handloom and it has become a passion now. Most of the members haven’t met each other yet. We have members from many cities inside and outside India. Around 2000 saris and more than 100 sari varieties have been posted on the group. There are men who support sari and weavers as well as members. One of our members from Kolkata used to wear chiffon saris only. After joining the group she has changed her wardrobe completely,” Sunita says.
When asked on the comfortable factor, which keeps away many youth to wear sari for hours continuously, she says that it’s a question of getting used to. “Earlier it took half an hour for me to wear a sari. Now I wear it in one minute and ten seconds. My mother used to wear it in under two minutes and I wanted to master that. I have been wearing saris for more than 40 years. I don’t have a safety pin in my house. I am not comfortable in wearing any other dress,” she elaborates.
“Now the moment I enter office even before saying good morning my colleague Arushi, who helped me in creating the Facebook page, identify the sari I wear. I am happy that the campaign has created such an impact. Another achievement is that that women started to come of the virtual world to a real world. Women who were never appreciated by anyone in their families, after joining the group, are receiving compliments from the other members. Now that they feel proud of themselves and their self esteem is high,” Sunita says.
The members of the group wear hand-woven saris, have their photographs posted in the group. There are members who have posted their 50, 100th and 200th saris. In September this year, Sunita posted her 300th handloom sari. In her collection there are saris which were bought for Rs45 and those which are 40-50 years old. “I left Delhi in 1993 for job in different cities. When I was in other cities it was a cultural shock for me that only lesser and lesser women wear saris. After 15 years when I came back it was a similar cultural shock. Everybody around me in Delhi was in trousers or jeans. But I continued with saris,” she says.
If we ask her on staying stylised and to avoid monotonous appearance by wearing the same dress every day she again has her reasons to argue for sari. “There are more than 100 varieties of sari, in kurta or jeans you don’t have that much choice. If you wear something designed by a celebrity designer for one wedding you won’t wear it for the next because people would remember. But sari is evergreen,” she chuckles.
