The Saree That Was Almost Real
A visitor unwraps two sarees and lays them side by side on the baithak. One has been in the family for thirty years. One arrived by courier last month, promised as handwoven Banarasi — and something about it has been bothering her ever since.
How to read the reverse, what the zari tells your fingers, the GI protection the weavers of Banaras won in 2009, and the one question that costs nothing and reveals everything.
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