Being holed up in the house is not easy, consciously or imposed due to the lock down, especially for one who is used to being outdoors most days of the week. Any opportunity to step out of the house even if it is for a walk on the terrace, is welcome 🙂

This feeling of a ‘welcome’ terrace walk took a backseat for a few hours – and the reason for this was the question “How do I go for a walk in a saree? It was the day of the Tamil new year, and for such festive occasions the attire of the day for me is the Saree. well, the fact that I was too lazy to change into my walk-wear, is another matter altogether 🙂

With much trepidation but thinking of the many women I have heard running a marathon in a saree (Actor and model, Milind Soman’s mother was the first person who came to my mind) and drawing inspiration from them, I mustered the courage, wore my walking shoes and stepped out of my house in my saree.

As I walked up to the terrace, I was thinking of whether I should break into a jog after a few rounds of walk. Another question sprang in my mind, “How do I jog wearing the saree?” I then decided to take it as it comes.

I reached the terrace and started my slow walk. Well, I was comfortably walking… After a few rounds, I started my brisk walk. The comfort stayed. Since I don’t pin my saree at my shoulder, the saree was bunching up and this was getting a trifle uncomfortable.. I adjusted my saree and continued my walk.. Any further thought of the saree or any discomfort, flew out of my mind thanks to the joy of the pleasant evening breeze, the sight of sun set and the odd eagle soaring in the sky .

With no further thought, I sprinter into a jog and only when I slowed down to walk, did I become aware of my attire once again. Well, the saree bunched bit in my ankle area and made taking long steps arduous. So I slowed down further, adjusted my saree, tucked the pallu end to my waist (so that the ‘hanging over the shoulder’ pallu doesn’t become the next challenge) and began my walk once again, with a smile on my face and a spring in my steps.

After quite many rounds of slow walk, brisk walk and jog and with much reluctance I brought myself to a stop. Just then came pujya swamiji’s voice from the discourse I was listening to, “You think you are small and you keep holding on to that thought; and that stops you from knowing that you are big.” I couldn’t but change a few words and look at it from the context of going for a walk in a saree, “You think you will feel uncomfortable going for a walk in a saree and you keep holding on to that thought; and that will stop you from enjoying your walk.” I then wondered of the many perceptions that I may be carrying that stops me from exploring and experimenting and discovering myself. It just took one step to bring in a change in my perception; but taking that step meant that I needed to push myself out of the envelop, that I have put myself in. I am a strong believer that saree is one of the graceful attires; but today, I believe that one can be very comfortable going for a slow walk or a brisk walk or a jog, in a saree. That for me is a paradigm shift!!

I walked home with a big smile, as though I had achieved something big. My son who saw me walking in home asked, “Who wears a saree for a walk?”I gave him a wider smile and said, “Wait for my blog.”

As I type this, I am just visualising myself popping out of the envelop I had put myself in, and looking outside in wonder!!! Life certainly is beautiful and a miracle!!