Anand and I woke up early and met in the lobby for breakfast. It’s the first time I’ve sampled the breakfast buffet that is part of the room rate, and Drew would be envious. The grill section has a selection of common Indian and North American breakfast items to choose from and there’s 6 different juices, cereals, muffins, and sweetbreads to choose from. Add to that some salad, fruit and cheeses, and you’ve got a meal that would make Drew drool.

After breakfast, I attempted to figure out how to wear the Saree. Since I’m pickup up the blouses from the tailor’s on the way to work, I decided I better try on the rest of the outfit a few times before I need to change into it. I’ve learned a few things about Saree’s in my attempts.

If you’ve never worn one before, and don’t have someone to teach you how to properly drape the Saree, it can take over ½ and hour to put one on. After some practice, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to drape.

Trying to drape a Saree based on instructions on a printed page looks a lot easier than it actually is.

Wrapping yourself in 6.5 meters of starched silk is hard work and while the outfit looks like it would keep you nice and cool, you become very hot when wearing it.

Safety pins are a godsend. The girls recommended using them and I’m very glad I picked some up when out shopping with Bindu last weekend.

You can’t hide a tattoo on your lower back if you’re wearing a Saree.

If you don’t want to fall while walking, you need tuck the material in a little higher than is traditional. Until you’ve mastered walking in a Saree, draping it so that the tips of your shoes show is a fashion sacrifice worth making.

They’re surprisingly comfortable to wear once you’ve managed to get one draped correctly.

We had to leave the hotel early in order to pick up the blouses from the tailors. They’re made to measure and match the fabric of the Saree exactly. Many Sarees, like my orange one, come with an extra section of fabric at the end of it – known as a blouse piece – that is used to make the blouses. Blouses in hand, we headed off to work, where I changed into the Saree.

If you’re curious to see what I looked like in a Saree, I’ve added some pictures of us in traditional dress to the photo gallery.

Monday, everyone at work will be wearing the same shirts (Manish gave them out today) except me. I’m under ‘orders’ to wear my other Saree so Linda can see me in one before she returns to the US. Of course, we have an ulterior motive – the plan is to get Linda outfitted in a Saree and wearing one to work before she leaves India!

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