A Sari For Ammi

Writing a picture book with cultural elements is like walking on eggshells. Many a picture book leaves me with a feeling that it was written merely with an eye on market demand or to monetize a gap in children’s book publishing industry, and it is especially true of books that talk about saris.

But here’s the big exception - “A Sari for Ammi” is a wonderfully researched picture book that goes beyond cultural tokenism and humanizes the faceless weavers behind a sari.

The story is about a family of weavers of ‘Kota’ sari – a Kota Doria sari is a light woven fabric made of pure cotton or silk with tiny woven squares, making it perfect for summer. The two kids in the family watch their parents work hard at weaving a sari and notice that their Ammi doesn’t own one. Readers then follow their journey of saving enough money to buy a sari for Ammi. Interspersed in the narrative, is the history behind Kota weavers. Sandhya Prabhat’s illustrations are meticulous – especially the way Ammi wears her dupatta (tucking it behind the earlobes) and the light and shadow of the checkered patterns of Kota Doria.

I love Mamta Nainy’s unapologetic use of words such as “haat”, “gullak”, and “khala”, adding an authentic whiff to the text. The book also has a short write-up on saris of Kaithoon, a town in the Kota district, followed by a glossary and ends with the line “Millions of women around the world wear a sari every day” – a subtly delivered important message that saris are not just special occasion drapes, not just a fancy-dress wear, but an everyday drape for millions of people… Loads of love to this book!