Give those gently used saris a new life

For most women, certain saris hold sentimental value and must kept safely in the closet. How about giving those gently used saris a new life?

Two high-school students, a fashion entrepreneur, a paediatrician and a professional from the U.S. have collaborated to initiate a social project called ‘Saree Stories’. Saris donated by people will be sorted out for two purposes – either to be sent to Better World, a shelter for women with disabilities, in Royapettah, to upcycle them into potli bags as part of an entrepreneurship and livelihood initiative; or to be given to underprivileged communities.

It all started in 2017. Priya V and Aiswarya Rao, two childhood friends, started ‘Saree for Naree’, an initiative where they encourage members of the Indian diaspora communities to give away their well-maintained saris to underprivileged women.

Priya, who is from Chennai and is residing in the United States now, would send them through friends visiting India or ship them to Aiswarya who in turn would identify deserving people that they can be gifted to.

Getting high-quality saris was never a challenge.

“We used to share photographs of the beneficiary wearing the elegant sari and that gave a sense of closure to many of my friends in New Jersey as they knew the saris were being put to good use,” says Priya.

She says this is not a clothing drive as they only collected sarees that were really good and a lot of thinking went into identifying the most deserving beneficiaries. “We had a well-wisher part with 250 Kancheepuram saris after their mother passed away and they were as good as new. Similarly, another gentleman gave away his mother’s sari after he was convinced that it will be not be upcycled for any other purposes,” says Priya.

New customs duty and COVID did slow down Saree for Naree’s drive. “We would have gifted more than 400 saris so far,” adds Priya.

With ‘Saree Stories’, the drive has got a fresh lease of life. Ananthi Vivek and Shloka Sriram, high school students from Chennai and Singapore respectively who are keen on empowering women, are leading the drive by getting people to donate saris. The team is looking for gently-used saris from Chennai as well as from Singapore. Shloka had earlier raised funds to help Better World to supply masks at the height of the pandemic.

“We would also be marketing these products for the women,” says Ananthi, a student of KC High International School.

Ananthi and Shloka were instrumental in roping in Arya Giri through their common interest in dance and approached her to design the potli bags. Arya and her team would be training the women at the shelter in design essentials.

Priya insists they will continue to follow the same benchmark while collecting the saris. “If the sari does not meet the standard, please don’t mind as we will return them,” adds Priya.

To donate saris, email [email protected] or visit instagram.com/betterworldshelter

A startup run by women with disabilities

Residents of this Greater Chennai Corporation’s shelter for women with disabilities have once again raised their bar. Their latest venture – STOREAD – where they stitch potli bags from their centre at Royapettah is actually their first step towards entrepreneurship.

During the pandemic, they collaborated towards making a face mask. When the demand for masks slowed down, they drove Corporation’s COVID awareness programmes. Later, they launched a cultural troupe that highlighted social issues through theatre and music. The centre also got a grant from the State Commissionerate for the Welfare of the Differently-Abled sanctioned whereby the unit members train other women.

Paediatrician Aiswarya Rao, director of Better World, says STOREAD is a registered, not-for-profit company that will be run and managed by the women from the centre. “They recently got their GST number,” says Dr Aiswarya.

Three women — Matilda Foneca, Kala Selvi and Sujatha K — are the directors of the firm. Of the 50 plus residents at the centre — a majority of the women are homeless or are from disadvantaged sections of society with different disabilities — 12 are part of the “thread education”.

“As a team we wanted to pursue this line of fabric and thread and that is why you see them moving in this direction,” says Dr Aiswarya, adding that the mask project was more of a training ground. “Now they are confident in using the machine.”

Profit made by STORED will be used to train others, and the women will also earn a salary. Dr Aiswarya says marketing these products is a big challenge and that is where the collaboration with a young team will help promote their work.