Robson Voices Learns How to Wear and Clean a Sari

Jane Scholz

Voices United members learned how to select, put on, wear, and, most importantly, clean a sari, from one of their own at the April monthly meeting.

Rupa Mathur, a Robson resident and Voices member who is a native of India, told the group about the sari (also saree) worn by women on the subcontinent for 5,000 years of history and one of the world’s oldest forms of clothing still in use.

The Vedas, one of the oldest written texts, mentions the sari, and documents from the Indus Valley, 3300-1300 B.C., also show its use.

“Not all women of India wear the sari,” she said, “dress varies from region to region, depending also on religion, culture, and climate.”

Her slideshow also showed Indian women in the tunic and trousers, called salwar kameez, and other forms of dress.

A sari is an unstitched garment six to nine yards long. It tops a three-piece costume consisting of fine material, which is wrapped around a petticoat, a skirt-like undergarment tied tight around the waist, and a short blouse that ends at the midriff. The fine sari material has a border in an intricate design. Each area in India has its unique variation of the sari, with almost 30 varieties.

“When I first started wearing saris, I would trip over them and tear the most beautiful, expensive silk saris,” she said. “It took a lot of practice for me to be able to wear them.”

Rupa visits family in India frequently, and when she goes, she takes her saris along to be cleaned. “American dry cleaners just don’t know how to do them properly,” she said.

She demonstrated wrapping and arranging a sari on member Jackie Ford who bought her own sari on a trip to India.

Voices United is a non-partisan group of Robson Ranch women who share progressive values, perform community outreach, provide civic awareness and social contact for members, and have a good time! We’re a 501(c)(3) group. Our annual dues are $20.

For more information, contact [email protected].