The Recycle Mantra

Have you seen this advertisement on television where a young mother coos to her infant and promises to buy only “new things” for the babe? Apparently the lady was forced to use her elder sister’s stuff as a kid. Since she did not enjoy the “hand me downs” she wanted to spare her child of the humiliation.

The reason she assigned to her promise always filled me with disdain. I failed to understand her sentiment. Personally, I have never felt belittled when my various aunts, cousins, and second cousins passed on their girlie paraphernalia, trinkets, and best clothes when they had outgrown them. In fact, I would rather enjoy the variety that strengthened my wardrobe and my accessory kit at no extra expense much to the envy of my friends. I simply followed the tradition of the household by passing on things when I outgrew them, to my younger cousins and nieces.

I was completely convinced about the anomaly of the theme of the ad until very recently. Last week I cleared my wardrobe and sorted out a wide range of my meticulously maintained, diaphanous chiffon, organza, and nylon saris to give them away. Even as I picked them out, I realized that the young ladies in the family would not be wearing them, for they draped yards of the Indian wear only when occasions demanded them – which were far and few.

I had to find other youthful takers. I suddenly realized that it was a very onerous task. First of all, I had to identify young women who wear saris; secondly, girls who would be willing to take them. I could not possibly give the saris to the underprivileged because the nature of the material made it mandatory for the recipient of the saris to compliment them with matching in-skirts and blouses to drape them gracefully. Besides, it would cost them a pretty penny.

After giving the issue much thought, I zeroed in on a couple of my young friends who work on some eco-friendly projects with me. They were visibly impressed by the collection and found them irresistible. All the same, their social and economic pride disallowed them from picking them up. They vetoed the idea. I dropped the matter.

Soon they briefed me with the report of the current project on “saving water”. It was not very successful because the public who signed up for the project had not walked their talk. The irked girls launched into a tirade on the uncouth public which simply refused to recycle and re-use despite being educated about the same. I told them that it would take a long time to effectively translate theory into practice but we must not be bogged down by teething troubles and started putting the saris away.

They looked at one another for a while silently, and all of them at once brought down the pile of saris, started making their choices animatedly. I must say the experience was Cathartic in more ways than one!