The Matching Blouse

A 2011 episode of Kaun Banega Carorpathi had a plump woman contestant - Amita Singh Tomar - from Madhya Pradesh moaning that she wanted to shed weight as her blouses did not fit her any more. What followed was some hilarious advise from AB on what a tailor can do to the blouse to increase the size! This episode prompted me to write this blog on my experience in accompanying Geetha in buying matching blouses for her sarees.
In the last few years I have come to realise - belatedly - that there is much more to saree shopping than the saree itself - it needs lining, matching petticoats and matching blouses and finally a trusted tailor to stitch the blouse.
As soon as you enter the shop you are bewildered by the sheer range of shades for a colour. How can they have so many 'shades' of green or blue? Geetha would hand over the saree to a shop assistant and 'specify' the shade/colour, type and length, as if challenging him. Placing the saree on one of his hands, the assistant will slide it over the colours, find the perfect colour/shade and place it alongside the saree. Now, accepting the assistant's selection straightaway is not an option. "I think it needs a little darker green". The assistant will find another near-perfect match which is also rejected. After 3 or 4 such rejections, a perfect match is found and both parties seem happy. Just when I thought we had finished our purchase, Geetha would fish out a few more sarees from her bag and ask for matching blouses. I would wonder where these sarees came from. I never remembered her buying them?

Even though nowadays most sarees come with matching blouses, every time we visit India, a visit to the blouse matching centre is a must. Contrary to what I thought, the specifications for the blouse are decided mentally much before - Cotton or two by two, 80cm or 1m, exact match or contrast?


Now, the stitching part. There is only one tailor in India who can stitch blouses exactly the way Geetha and her sisters want.  Fortunately, that tailor is just on the main road from her Mother's place in Louiswadi in Thane. I would accompany her to the shop and Geetha would hand over the blouse pieces we had just bought. Once again there was a surprise for me. A few more blouse pieces would come out of the bag. Now, where did these come from?

On a recent visit to India for a wedding, the scenario changed slightly. In Chennai she had one tailor stitching blouses for ordinary sarees. This tailor would come home to take orders. Then there was the tailor on Ranaganathan St in TNagar who specialised in designed blouses for expensive sarees. Geetha also had a 3rd tailor in Mylapore who was considered a 'falls' expert. (I was told the Thane tailor was no longer to be used)!

Back in Brisbane what better occasion for the ladies to show off their new sarees than at the concerts, weddings and functions. Aside from the sarees that she bought, out would come the extra sarees that I had seen at the blouse shop. When I queried, Geetha would say, ".. this one is from Anandi, the blue from Chitra, the red from Jayanti and pink from Chandra". “How did they land with you?” Well, we exchange sarees every time we meet”. Now I know how she has a variety of sarees in her wardrobe. "But what about matching blouses for them?". "You know I got them stitched by our tailor". "But where did you buy them". ".. remember we went to Raji Mami's house in Chennai? Raji Amma vachu kodutha.(Raji's Mother gave it to me).' Oh, I see. She always seemed to have a collection of blouse pieces which she would gladly offer with haldi-kumkum to any ladies visiting our house.

Well .. for me all mysteries solved!

But then just one question? How and when do the sisters reconcile or return the sarees?