Venkat Raman
Auckland, January 2, 2021
We have always respected our women as masters of varied professions, not just as homemakers, mothers and wives. We are proud that the Indian history and tradition of the ‘Advancing Woman’ has today extended itself to make them undertake many male-dominated professions.
Our women today are today engaged as construction, structural, civil, electrical, mechanical, architectural, computer and telecommunications engineers, airline pilots, ship captains and even as soldiers engaged in warzones.
And put together a group of them and ask them to enjoy the day, and the place of their gathering quickly comes alive with fun and laughter.
Saree Speak Meet in Auckland
That is what happened on Sunday, December 27, 2020 at Saffron Indian Restaurant located at 57 Cavendish Drive in Manukau, Auckland. It became the venue for the members of the ‘Saree Speak,’ a Facebook Group, not just to glorify the Saree, but also to provide opportunities for women to meet and exchange goodwill and earn new friends.
Bavani Suresh and Krithika Rajendaran organised the ‘Saree Speak Afternoon,’ continuing the well-established custom established a few years ago.
“The meeting was planned to be in March and April 2020 but the advent of Covid-19 and the resultant lockdown restrictions delayed the idea. As the community spread was successfully contained in New Zealand, all of us got busy with Navaratri, Diwali and other commitments (some of us were also busy with our children’s school or university examinations). It was therefore only now that we could get away and have an afternoon to ourselves,” they said.
About Saree Speak
‘Saree Speak,’ was launched as a Facebook Group by Vini Tandon Keni of Goa in Western India with a simple but empowering vision.
The Group also aimed to inspire herself to wear sarees regularly, thereby setting an example for others, transcending barriers of religion, politics, race, caste, creed.
The ‘Saree Speak’ members are fondly referred to as ‘Saree Sakhis.’
The ‘Auckland New Zealand Saree Speak Meet’ was initiated by Bavani Suresh, who, after scrolling down the ‘Saree Speak Page’ (on Facebook) and noting the many meets occurring worldwide, decided to post a question to women in Auckland for a ‘Saree Speak Meet’ during the Christmas/New Year break in late 2018.
It triggered a wave of response, leading to the special gathering.
Enthusiastic participants
Ms Rajendran said that their earlier expectation of 15 participants proved to been too conservative. The event witnessed the participation of 30 women, all in their sartorial resplendency, adding dignity to the universally admired Saree.
Among them were Anju Yogakumar, Archana Passi Pabbi, Asha Ketheeswaran, Bavani Suresh, Bhakthi Kinger, Deepa Moghe, Devi Swarnapuri, Diksha Pabbi, Geetha Arun Thayaparan, Jayanthi Sundaresan, Kanchana Mala Reddy, Kanika Diesh, Krithika Rajendran, Mogana Govindan, Nilima Venkat, Nirmala Subramaniam, Niveditha Sethi, Ravika Java, Rita Seth, Ritu Sharma, Roopa Krishnaswamy, Sandhya Badakere, Shalini Dixit, Shree Nig, Shyama Mahasivam, Sohini Bhattacharya, Suma Varma, Uma Chandra, Vani Prusuthman and Vasu Moses.
They were classified into five groups of six each in order that they could get to know each other better, and more important, engage in group activities and games.
“We were thrilled to realise how popular the event has become since the first meeting that we conducted in January 2019. There could have been many more women but the ‘release from the grips of Covid’ apparently encouraged many to take short holidays away from Auckland but even so, the presence of so many of our ‘Saree Sakhis’ (as the members of the Group are called) rekindled our spirit of enjoyment. It was certainly an event to remember. The services at Saffron were superb,” she said.
Special Guests at Special Event
The women, who are used to serving guests at homes and events, were treated with extra care as special guests by the management and staff at Saffron Indian Restaurant.
As Ms Suresh mentioned, they were received with warmth and a cool Mango Lassi.
“We greeted each other, exchanged pleasantries and then labelled names of Sarees and various States of India. While a fashion ramp walk demonstrated the exquisite beauty of the Saree (not to forget those adorning them), listening to our members as they introduced themselves was inspiring. We were proud of the empowered women of varied careers, and even of the homemakers who work all hours to run their homes,” she said.
The cuisine that was laid out for them was so sumptuous that Ms Rajendran believed that she went into a ‘Food Coma.’ The women who are used to feeding others deserved to be seated and served at least on such occasions.
There were games that included guessing the State or custom related to weddings based on the saree worn by women, various ways of draping the saree and other items. Winners in each game were awarded prizes.
“The best part of the fun and games was each group demonstrating the creative and innovative way of wearing the Saree.
Motivational Speech and Inspiring Action
The highlight of the afternoon was a motivational speech by Jayanthi Sundaresan, Facilitator at the Department of Corrections, where she helps women prisoners to upskill themselves with sewing and other skills. As a Training Specialist at Aspire2 Business, she enables people to reach higher levels of leadership, management expertise and training delivery.
Working with her husband Sundaresan (Raju) Ramakrishnan (who runs the Food Hub Collective Limited Papatoetoe), Auckland Council and the Community, she has encouraged people to pursue healthier and ‘cleaner’ food habits instead of rushing to have junk and fast food. She and her team have engaged chefs from the Maori, Pacifica, Indian and Asian communities to cook affordable, tasty and health food.
Ms Sundaresan said that through proper estimate and management, food wastage can be minimised and that sustainable approach enables them to use leftover still-fresh produce from supermarkets to prepare tasty food and deliver them to safe homes, refugee centres and the Auckland City Mission.
Please read our article on Food Hub Collective Papatoetoe here.
Emotional Moments
It was also an emotional afternoon for some.
Geetha Arun Thayaparan said that she had worn the saree of her mother who passed away a few weeks ago. “This Kanchipuram Silk Saree is more than 50 years old and my mother would have loved to attend this event today. I feel her warm embrace,” she said.
Ms Rajendran quoted Sohini Bhattacharya as saying that ‘Sarees are Emotions.’
“So true. Past emotions and stories have embedded themselves in the wefts and warps and as the saree drapes the wearer, it is felt very strongly,” she said.
As they left, the women took home not only door gifts of exotic purses (produced by Guest of Honour Jayanthi Sundaresan) but also soulful of pleasant memories and goodwill.
Pictures by Abishek Nagendran (Facebook/Instagram Abnagphoto)
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