A sari weaves patterns to mark a festival. But who can tell the history of its heart?

Allarmelu took out the sari that belonged to her mother, her mother’s mother, and her mother before that. All she wanted now was not a long chain of dead mothers but her mother, alive. This sari did not have the fragrance of sandalwood and frankincense with her mother’s musk. Her heart skipped a beat. The sari on her lap was an imposter!

1909: Allarmelu discovers her mother’s wedding sari that has woven histories of families together, is missing. Allarmelu must track it down, without revealing it was stolen by someone in the family. Tracing the sari sends her into a world never mentioned in genteel company, of exotic Russian dancers and unacknowledged mistresses. But puberty and the changing landscape of Madras make Allarmelu challenge the complacent silences of family and British rule alike.

1857: Sari looms are set alight on the Coromandel Coast and weavers murdered. The East India Company ships an orphaned Indian girl to Norfolk England to work as a governess. Born Chandrika, and converted to Christina, she carries a sari woven with symbols of an incendiary past that she must strive to forget. However, she finds the words to narrate her experiences through working for Oxford’s Philological Society, leaving a secret that will only unravel in the next century.

Rich with historic detail on sari weaving spanning two centuries, and across continents Vayu Naidu weaves the vibrant tale of a woman who finds her voice despite looming family secrets, promises and betrayals. The Sari is as much a character championing silenced voices of a marginalised people across Madras and the Deccan who left their indelible mark on history–woven, draped and passed on, beating with the heart of their passionate dreams for freedom.

Author: Vayu Naidu–Narrator: Vayu Naidu

© Vayu Naidu 2017 Speaking Tiger Book; 2023Vayu Naidu (P) for Recorded Book;

Acknowledgment: Chris Banfield UK: SoundParti Studios, India.