Dressed in a mustard and pink contrast border silk sari, accompanied with a patchwork choli and traditional jewellery, Usha Raghunathan comes across as any other South Indian mother. But, hang on, there’s more to her than just the looks. Despite the most popular celebrities from Bollywood and Tollywood flaunting her creations, she is as humble as one can get. “It feels very nice, when I see them wearing something that I have designed. I believe saris are the most feminine outfits ever. Though the girls in this generation say they can’t handle saris and are more comfortable in their jeans, there is something about this six-yard or the nine-yard beauty that can bring out the best in them,” she believes. In the city for her latest Ugadi collection, she says cotton is the flavour of the season.  And, who can dispute her?

A flying start

Usha Raghunathan lost her mother at a very young age. Her father worked at the Air Force Civil Aviation, while her grandparents raised her. “It was because of my dad that I also wanted to learn flying. So, I got my license in 1956, which was quite something back then. Then, after I got married, my husband was also very supportive, so I was able to follow my dreams,” she recalls. Usha was then asked to write about her experiences of being a pilot, which was when she started writing. “I wrote a lot of radio scripts for the AIR,” she remembers. But, for the last 35 years, she has been completely involved in designing saris. “There were times when I would travel from Yercaud to Salem, sit with the weavers and get some saris custom-designed,” she reveals.

Cotton, silk and more

“I dream about saris and cholis. I have always loved Kanjeevaram, silk and cotton. I like anything that is traditional,” she admits. Being an ardent follower of  Kanchi Paramacharya, who always insisted on cotton as silk led to killing of silk worms, Usha came up with her “Ahimsa saris” which are made of poly-cot fibre, which resembles silk. “Though it is very expensive, it is just like silk. Many people prefer buying these,” she observes. Usha is known for uplifting the traditional sari and putting it in context for the present generation. Her collections are often tagged as “trendsetters with a traditional touch.” And there’s no exaggeration in that.

Challenges faced by weavers

Talking about the plight of the weavers today, she says, “They have been facing a major challenge in making their products appealing to the current market. But, if you sit with them and ask them to make a few changes, they willingly do it. We need to now focus on making their products accessible to people. There are many who want to wear traditional saris.”

Clothes do not provoke

Disturbed by the recent rape incidents in the country, Usha says, “Women were more respected a few decades back. These days, we see young boys at 17 committing these crimes. And the kind of allegations they make about clothes provoking men is all rubbish. If a woman in a small skirt can get raped, women in saris have also been raped. It is the mindset of men that has to change. Clothes do not send out a message.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Kruthi Gonwar / ENS – Hyderabad / April 04th, 2013