Amma’s Saree 🌺

There are some sarees we remember not because we knew anything about their weave, motifs or technique, but simply because we remember the person wearing them.

This is one such saree for me.

I grew up seeing Amma in this Kanchivaram. I remember the colour, the unusually wide borders, the motifs — but more than any of those details, I remember how she looked in it.

Back then, I knew nothing about Korvai or Adai weaving. I wasn’t looking at construction, proportions or motifs.

It was simply Amma’s saree.

Today, I look at the same saree with a very different eye. I notice the details and understand the craft in ways I couldn’t have as a child.

Yet the first thing I still see is Amma.

And sometimes I wonder if my love for Kanchivarams began much earlier than I realised — not by learning about them, but simply by growing up watching her wear them.

Perhaps some things are not taught to us.

They quietly become a part of us.

Until next Letter,

Love,

Vidhya Raghunathan