Grand old lady of the Indian ethnic wear, Usha Raghunathan from Chennai is one designer who knows the pulse of women and their tastes. She came to Hyderabad with her collection of cholis at Singhania store in Banjara Hills and stood smiling at a corner as the cholis went off the racks thick and fast. Dressed in a plain lemon yellow sari accentuated with an embroidered choli , Usha presents a picture of calm and contentment. She equates herself to an actress, who quits the film industry after getting married but makes a comeback in a couple of years. “I was a sari designer for 30 years; it was time-consuming and I lost my sleep, so I felt I need to stop. Then regular buyers started enquiring about it and even I couldn’t resist the urge. Instead of saris, I decided to do something small, that’s how cholis happened,” she says with a smile.
Pointing towards the cholis, she states, a blouse makes or mars the look of your sari. “It is exciting to know how much difference a blouse can make to your dressing. I am trying to tempt young women with these cholis so that they change their perception towards saris.” With a jean-clad young designer by her side, Usha says, “This morning I asked her if she would want to wear a sari, and she looked shocked and replied, ‘I am only 21.’ I tried to tempt her saying you will look sexy.”
Usha rues that young women do not prefer to wear saris because, ‘It is difficult to manage when one is working or travelling.’ Recalling an early example, she says, “Once my friend Sathya (Sathya Saran) asked me to bring some of my extraordinary silks to Bangalore to exhibit. A day before the exhibition, a model in skinny jeans told me, “I don’t have a petticoat, do you mind if I tuck the sari inside the jeans.’ I couldn’t breathe for a second. It was like insulting the sari but I had no choice. I just thought to myself, “Buyer of this sari will not know its past.”
Usha believes, a sari era will never end. “Sari is like a circle and the styles are constantly rotating. My grandmother was very modern and would wear mega sleeves. The mega sleeves style was in vogue for sometime before another style replaced it. My mother-in-law would wear a nine yard sari and walk like a queen to watch the matinee show. Different styles come and go and according to tastes, the trends change. What can you do differently with a sari, it has limited options. But it will continue forever,” she observes.
Besides being a designer, Usha was the first woman pilot from South India and also a writer. “I was at the right time at the right place. I was confident and wanted to do something,” she states.
One remarkable feature of Usha is her cheerful attitude and pleasant demeanour. She says a smile pulls her though tough times. “Once I had a major car accident and doctors had to put 50 stitches on the forehead,” she says showing her forehead. “I had broken ribs and hip too. Doctors asked me if I wanted to get a facelift job done. I told them, “What is the use, my Chary (husband) will not even recognise me,” she says with a laugh and adds, “One should learn to age gracefully.”
On a concluding note, Usha adds that she loves to travel, especially to Sikkim. “But my husband, who is 89-year-old can’t even walk. At this age, I can’t find a man,” she laughs. On a serious note, she adds, “I want women to take my life as an example and never feel helpless. I hailed from an orthodox family. But I pursued my dreams.”
