Lmlangf in A year in the thar desert – heat, sand, and lassis in india writes about the second hand saree purchase in Jodhpur.

something else i love about india: the secondhand sari vendors in the clock tower market of the old city. sometimes on sundays smita and i indulge ourselves by jumping in an autorickshaw and making our way to the crazy, chaotic, psychedelic city center in the afternoon heat, beelining our way through the fruit and vegetable stands, the little displays of pots and pans and buckets, the slick young guys touting bootleg bollywood DVDs, straight to the half-dozen or so staid-looking women sitting with their legs pretzeled up around them behind neatly-stacked rows of secondhand saris laid out on a blanket. they always keep their poker faces on when they see us coming, but usually the initial realization (“it’s them!”) that flickers in their eyes as we approach is hard to miss. we must be their best customers. for our part, we always saunter up casually, greeting them with even-toned “namastes,” nonchalantly eyeing their wares with an all-too-calculated air of indifference, carefully restraining ourselves from jumping at the first gorgeous silk piece that catches our eye.

we buy these saris for a variety of different reasons. some are just intoxicatingly beautiful silk of colors so rich you cannot believe that they can possibly be captured on a fabric so delicate, pinks and blues and yellows and greens, with intricate silver handwoven brocade that calls to mind the corridors and passageways of eternal mazes of flowers. others look like they would make pretty sweet apartment curtains, although to date i’ve only been bothered to sit down and hand-sew one set of them (a sky blue adorned with flowers and peacocks, which isn’t nearly as tacky as it sounds, and flutters nicely under the fan in my living room). others, usually nice cotton ones still in good condition (no rips, holes, or bloodstains – i’m not kidding), we actually wear (after a thorough hand-washing up on my sunny balcony, of course). since lately i’ve fallen into the habit of wearing saris like they’re going out of style (which believe me, they are definitely not), i’m always up for another nice light one that will swath me through another mindnumbingly hot desert day.

it’s easy enough to find a ready-made petticoat which will match the sari, but the blouse is a whole different story. first you have to find a matching center that has an array of colored fabrics that you can choose from for a color which will match the sari. then you buy that material and take it somewhere else to a tailor (neither sari shops nor matching centers actually have tailors). here you drop it off, describe the type of blouse that you want (deep-necked, belted, shorter sleeves, etc…a vast variety of options that mean a difference of perhaps one or two inches of fabric in the overall design of a blouse), he takes your measurements, and then you wait anywhere from a week to a month until the tailor feels like giving it to you, which is never, ever, don’t even dream it, on the day that he originally told you it would be..

It is really unfortuate that the second hand saree concept or “exchanging” saree idea t has not taken a foothold in Indian main stream. It’s high time!

There is so much that can be done to give a face lift to a saree, especially with prevailing fashion sense where exactly matching blouse is not necessary for the saree ensemble to be complete.

At times, I have thought about a sari exchange web site. Oh well.. it will happen when the time is ripe.