Graceful Saree, Tasty Idly

 

Graceful Saree, Tasty Idly

A colleague from Kerala told me that when she did wear a sari to the office (in Delhi), her North Indian co-workers told her that she wears her sari more gracefully than they can theirs. That is the bit of conversation, remembered over three decades, that drove me to pen this post.

I wish to bust the myths about the two adjectives in the title. Saree, by itself, is not graceful. Likewise, the typical breakfast fare in South India, idly, is not, by itself, tasty.

I will make the two cases and you may decide.

Have you seen women picking out one from hundreds of sarees laid out in front of them? They choose, reject, choose and on it goes. They would loosely drape it over their front, shoulder and forearm and judge in the store to see how it would look on them. They would do this a dozen times or more and pick one, only to be dissatisfied with their purchase upon reaching home.

 So, why the sudden disappointment? It could be because the saree may be draped in more than one way, mainly in the stretch at the open end. But, at the store, one would have tested it only in the most elegant (my judgement) and not necessarily in one of the currently “in” ways of wrapping. Let me call this stretch a “Pallu”. The pallu from the waist level to the shoulder could be draped with merely loose and irregular crinkles. In social settings this is preferred, I believe, with the designers’ and weavers’ artistic handiwork exhibited in their glory.

Of course, if the woman is employed, the nature of the job would determine how the saree is worn. Desk work, the above is OK. But, if a lot of walking around is involved, the pallu could be pinned at the shoulder.

How the saree goes over the shoulder is of importance. The “in” fashion is for the saree to be folded with sharp folds. Then, when it falls down over the back, the folds are maintained. This is lacking in grace, in my not so humble opinion. Free flowing is better than regimented. Sometimes, as during kitchen work or praying, women carry the pallu over the back and tuck the end at the waist in the front. This is terrific. Or, taken over the other shoulder sometimes and held on to by hand. This is equally fine.

Next, you may observe, and if you are an engineer you may imagine, how the front pleats down to the toes will wave when the woman walks in a normal gait, nothing exaggerated. I have imagined and have also seen, the waving beauty of the frontal pleats. It is truly a beauty to behold which enhances the saree’s grace.

So, how it is worn and how it suits the circumstances is what gives the saree its grace. I understand that my descriptions are rather long winded, but do not blame me. Oh, on second thoughts, feel free to blame me. I looked at Tamil news channels where the female newsreaders wear sarees, as per the individual’s taste I would imagine and took a number of screen shots. I also searched on the Net for images of mannequins in sarees. They were almost uniformly in bad taste, exposing more than covering, lacking grace. I went to the site of the designer Satya Paul, the fellow who brought in saree fashion in India through prints in sarees. I did not find the variety of draping and wrapping. And, I was afraid that I may be taken to court by individuals for whatever convoluted reason. Hence, the longish, rough, and inadequate descriptions.

The single line conclusion: Saree gets its gracefulness mostly from how it is worn.

 Of course, no one is stopped from appreciating the artistic aspects intrinsic to the saree, but that is secondary.

Now, I come to the idly. Have you ever tasted idly without side orders like sambar (a liquidy stew of vegetables and lentils), or some type of chutney (some kind of a spread to go with idly or dosa)?   

I will answer for you, with supreme confidence – NO. How can I give the answer with such confidence? Simple. Idly, on its own, is devoid of taste! It is a very healthful food, no doubt. It is steamed and not fried, that is why. It carries enough carbohydrates and protein (a mix of rice flour and ground lentil (wet grinder)) to be healthful. It goes down smoothly, of course with sambar or chutney; otherwise, no. It is easy to make, if the batter had been prepared and kept to leaven overnight.

In many railway stations in Tamil Nadu, the ready food available on the go is idly, with litres of sambar and mounds of semi-solid chutney. It is for the sides that one eats idly, it looks like. This was not how the fare was conceived originally – sides were sides, then. Indeed, it was a fad, as I don’t think it persists today, to offer a number of mini-idlies (just about an inch in diameter) floating in a sea of sambar.

The one idly that is truly tasteful is Kanchipuram Idly, the specialty of Kanchipuram Varadaraja Perumal Temple. It is, indeed should be eaten without any sides. It has, within itself cashew nuts, full black pepper, and other spicy condiments. The batter is steamed in a wicker cylinder about 10 cm. in diameter and about 25-30 cm. long. In Kanchipuram, we rented the house from one the temple’s chief interlocutors with God (called Bhattar) and we did get these once in a while. It was just goddamn tasty. So, if you wish to TASTE idly, this is the only one. All the others are faux idlies.

I rest my case.

Raghuram Ekambaram