The saree is one of the world’s oldest and perhaps the only surviving unstitched cloth to still be worn. But its grace and poise should not be a man’s prerogative, believes Himanshu Verma or as he is popularly known the ‘Saree Man of India.’
Image courtesy: Facebook/ Saree Man
This maybe the first time you are looking at a man who fully embraces the beauty of a cloth that has predominantly been a woman’s forte. Verma, who he has been organising the Saree Festival every year, since 2014, clearly wants to remove this very distinction.
Image courtesy: Facebook/ Saree Man
During this festival, Verma aka the Saree Man, takes saree draping workshops for saree enthusiasts. And, in addition, he also curates the traditional and comtemporary versions of the garment.
Continue reading to know how he started this tradition and why he wants to continue it.
Verma, who is famous in Delhi social circles for his eccentric dressing style believes that a saree cannot just be for women. He is working to make this beautiful piece of cloth acceptable to men as well.
Image courtesy: Facebook/ Saree Man
In fact, in an interview he explains how he started this.
“I started wearing sarees as a gesture of re-appropriating the saree as a male garment and highlighting the historical traditions where it was all about the fluidity of the drape and not about the structure that was gender specific,” he says.
Image courtesy: Facebook/ Saree Man
“The saree as we know today is actually just 150 years old, and it is what is called the Thakurbari drape or the drape pioneered by the Tagore ladies. It is also associated with the Parsi Bombay ladies,” he adds.
Image courtesy: Facebook/ Saree Man
“Before that, the saree was worn in so many ways and the men would also wear dhotis and sarees, and in many parts of India the two terms are interchangeable. So I think saree is a generic term and it is not a garment for women specifically,” he says.
Now that’s certainly a different way of looking at this nine yard wonder!
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