Gara sarees are Parsi sarees; they're often referred to as embroidered paintings. For the most part, they feature traditional motifs embroidered using silk thread usually on georgette or crepe silk. A single saree can take months to make although the making of Gara sarees is very much a living tradition. There have been experiments with weaving Gara-inspired designs into Banarasi sarees, for example. The saree photographed here is a new-fangled Parsi gara combining Persian, Indian, and Chinese influences, as such sarees always do. It was acquired not at a dedicated saree shop but at a tiny all-things-Parsi place which I visited along with a lady who made life seem so much better just by her having been part of it. She'd come down to Pune, where I was at the time, just for a day and I've kept the saree because the memory of that evening is one I treasure. The shop was overseen by a gentleman who (not too surprisingly) spoke about the materials used and the man-hours th...