Thanks to the #100sareepact, I’ve had the good fortune to be friends with women from different walks of life. Women of different ages, different professions, from different countries. I may never have met them were it not for our common passion for sarees and story telling. I came to Instagram quite late, and when I arrived there I saw many, many profiles of women showcasing their sarees. The phenomena of the #100sareepact has given rise to varied avenues of recognition. Some women were...

It is my absolute honour to bring you this episode of the #100sareepact Reloaded on National Handloom day. Laila’s work has had a huge impact on  the handicraft and handmade sector, she has spent decades travelling the length and breath of the country to understand the nuance of the art & craft and found ways to connect and build awareness for the artisans, weavers and crafts people. She is one of the founders of Dastkar, a Delhi-based non governmental organization, working for the...

I’m not surprised when a man tells me he has a saree story. And no, not even when the man doesn’t wear a saree (yes, some men drape sarees too). In 2015, the year of the #100sareepact, many men told me their saree memories. The saree is a powerful identity and most men recognise that, associate someone they know with it.  Ashdin Doctor and I have never met in person, but his online presence is as inspiring & as it is honest. He is a habit coach, has a podcast of the same name which...

Founder of Daak, the beautiful writing of letters to a post box in Lahore in an attempt to bridge the conversation between the people of our two countries garnered immense support. That is when I met Amy online. I looked her up and I wrote to her. We kept in touch ever since. Amy, teacher, writer, poet, activist. A young woman of today’s times. She throws herself wholeheartedly into what she believes requires her to lean in. I’ve seen her online presence and her protest against NRC and CAA...

This episode of the #100sareepact Reloaded podcast features the ever so gorgeous Ketaki Golatkar. Her heart warming story about the Narayanpet she wore for our chat, her stories about her saree wears, life, attitude and beliefs. What struck me about our conversation was our ability as women to be “this and that”. Seamlessly. Ketaki speaks of attempting to make mango pickle and then with as much ease she mentions stepping on to a sports arena wielding a microphone. This straddling of many...

You’ve heard how the idea of the podcast of #100sareepact Reloaded came to me in the introductory episode here. But then what did I do ? How did I proceed ? I had already begun to research on podcasts for a few more projects since last year. The medium is new to me. Messaging I know. Medium I didn’t. I had been following Mukta’s posts on COVID-19, the problems that migrants were facing, her take on government, public & private roles and her attempt to make sense of all the chaos of...

The #100sareepact started in 2015, became a worldwide movement of telling the stories of our lives through the medium of the saree. This vibrant community of story tellers now gets a new platform in the form of this podcast.  Listen to stories of resilience, of hope, of honouring the memory of a loved one, of valour, or overcoming odds, of finding identity, of fragrant memories stored in gratitude in the corners of our minds.  Personal stories shared with trust. I hope you will listen with...