Chunris

I have a lot of chunris with me - many of them are the only reminders of salwar kameezes and churidaars which were discarded long back.When I look at them,I can recall the occassions when I got that chunri & the dress.Sometimes,I would get a chunri being unable to resist the colour or the print & then go & buy a dress material complimenting the chunri.At other times,it would be that the chunri would be part of the dress material.I also recall other times, hunting for days together, for a chunri matching the dress material which came without a chunri.Once,I painted a chunri with fabric paint as it had one colour less than the print on the dress material & I felt that it did not match.

I don't have a heart to throw out any chunri as most of the chunris still look new.The cotton ones are so soft, that my daughter curls up with them many times.Some chunris have faded with time & I still have them.I use the faded ones to tie up my clothes into a bundle for giving them to the dhobi.Some of the cotton chunris I use for drying up hair- mine as also that of my daughter after a head bath.The emroidered chunris, I use as covers for the idiot box as they make a pretty picture.

My daughter also plays with my chunris past & present by wrapping them around her body as if she is tying up a sari.Not only that,once she had a fashion parade in which each of her friends wore my numerous chunris as sarees & walked the ramp-albeit at home !

I am convinced that the chunri is a perennial cloth of joy !