The Drape That Never Asked for Permission
You have seen it in black-and-white photographs of Rabindranath Tagore's Shantiniketan. A woman in a plain cotton sari, the pallu brought over the left shoulder, no blouse underneath, the fabric falling without ceremony. No petticoat stiffening the silhouette. No pin holding the pleats in military formation. The Bengali style of draping, called the Brahmika or Aatpoure style depending on the region and the household, predates every fashion week this country has ever hosted. It was not a style in the way we use that word now. It was just how you got dressed.
