I cannot quite clearly recollect when exactly my kinship with her began.

But my earliest memory about her is the crispness that I felt on holding her loose end. I was posing for a photograph with my mother that day under a red hibiscus tree in our courtyard. I must have been hardly five then when her starched cotton  tickled my tender palm.

Ever since then each time I got a glimpse of her bundled up in my mother’s wardrobe I could not take my eyes off from her. I yearned for a day when I could drape her on me .

Finally when I was fifteen she clung on to me for the first time in my life, her light yellow muslin gently fondled me as if in an uncanny effort to befriend me forever.

In my late teens and early twenties though  we met only on special occasions, we truly enjoyed every moment we spent together.

It was after my mid-twenties that she became an inevitable  part of my life so much so that I often wonder whether we took a vow never to part with each other.

It had been a wonderful journey with her so far. May it be croons of the cottons , sweet whispers of pure silk , mesmerizing murmurs of the mulmuls, loving strokes of the linens, naughty giggles of the nylons or the chiffons that made me chic, a day without her in my life seems to be incomplete.

She blends perfectly with any clan, may it be the majestic Kanjeevarams, the rustic Kalamkaris, the bubbly Bandinis or the impressive Ikats, but wherever I go , the ivory Kerala Kasavu beckons me home with her golden charm.

She bathes in colors borrowed from rainbow , from fiery red to cool pastels. With awe I watch how mysteriously she brings out the beauty in every color.

Many a times when I happen to see her adorning the boutiques , shamelessly I pull her out leaving mannequins naked. When she offered online arrivals there was often something exciting for me to look forward .

She creeps on to me every morning and stands by me like my guardian angel all through the day.

She pumps my confidence, gives me the freedom to take long strides and chase my dreams.

She wipes my tears , she soaks up my sweat . We get drenched in rains , we dance with the wind.

She lulls my tempers when I lose them badly.She pampers my passions like no one does.

She flaunts my strengths and  hides my flaws.She covers my stains yet reveals my grace .

May it be in precise pleats, lazy layers or rhythmic rolls , she hugs me tight all day long.

Tempting are other tribes who promise space to breath and room for legs . But she effortlessly wins my heart, she knows exactly when to set me free and where to place her grip .

She fetches me respect and evokes elegance .She gifts me grandeur but plays it subtle.

Above all she instills in me an unapologetic self-love for who I am.

What more can I ask than to be with me , hand in hand,  all my life,  till death do us apart …Sari, my love!!!