Designer sarees by Sanjay Garg

Once upon a time, my gang of girls nearly had a falling out. In three parts. Over nine gossamer-sheer yards. Cool and yummy as a long drink of aam panna.

First, one of us spied these one-of-a-kind Chanderi sarees draped across a Dilli Haat stall, near closing time – and instead of picking up pronto, she stopped to call us and missed the best buy.

No matter. The next day we pounced on the young designer behind the Raw Mango label. For these were no ordinary sarees — NIFT grad Sanjay Garg played havoc with the traditional Chanderi palette, convincing the weavers to colour them contemporary. We dithered for hours. Everyone’s patience was shot as pink as my favourite silk by the time we’d bought and booked. In the bag: a bold banding of black, red and, hold your breath, sexy silver (for the bride-to-be); a rose-and-gold (me, me, me!); and caramel partnering cocoa for our ecru-ist artist pal.

But we’d all three fallen heart over heels for that one — sinuous teal green and chocolate stripes, looking amazingly like blown-up-barcode. Weeks later, we were at each other’s throats again. Why did none of us have the presence of mind to scoop it up — at least we could have shared? The Raw Mango man doesn’t retail in Delhi. And we had no idea when he would turn up in town next.

My inbox just lucked out, though. Because I’ve got this invite to his three-day exhibit, starting today, aptly called ‘Kairi’. Starring those same heavenly soft, head-turning sarees. Dupattas and yardage too.

Go drool. Drape and twirl. Wrap yourself in a sheer sliver of summer.

Just bring anyone but your best bud along.

Kairi, Shilp Haat, 1st floor, Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi. From: 27-29 March, 11 am to 7 pm. Contact: Sanjay Garg, ph: 9873191816 Prices: Rs 1800 onwards.
Wild Mango also retails in Mumbai, at Bombay Electric, 1 Reay House, BEST Marg, Colaba; ph: 22876276; bombayelectric.in; and Melange, 33 Altamount Road; ph: 23534492. In Delhi, select pieces are occasionally to be found at Kamala - The Craft Shop (of the Crafts Council of India), Rajiv Gandhi Handicrafts Bhawan, Gallery 1, Baba Kharak Singh Marg; ph: 55969600, 23743322.