When I first went to Pothys in Madurai - anyone in Tamil Nadu would swear by its collection of saris and the stupendous shoppers experience it gives - I had no idea what all a sari shop can be. After all the north Indian woman is always inferior to her South Indian sister when it comes to loyalism and panache for saris. Yes, it is the national dress of India but we in the north give it up more easily for the more casual and comfortable salary kameez or the trousers and tees these days. But our dusky sisters down the Vindhyas have held Forte doing all the house hold chores in the elegantly draped 6 yards of sheer creativity. Even the smart madras girl plying between workplace and home is seen deftly hopping in and out of busses, squeezing through the inconvenience of green autos and rushing across red lights in her neat plates, set pallu on her bosom fragrance wafting from the fresh veni pinned on to her thick black braided mane overflowing probably from a head that's supposed to be brainier too.
My hosts in Madurai, teachers from a women's degree college in the pristine Hills on the outskirts of the temple tiwn, showed off the mind blowing variety of saris at Pothys as probably I would show of the Taj mahal to her when she visits Agra. They put an extra stress on S when they said S-I-L-K and I could only pop my eyes out at the pleasant fabric. That is where I came to know about the longer sari worn by women in puja which is probably 9 yards. In fact I picked it up for my collection but am yet to wear it. I could not get over that visit to Pothys as I was short on time and also lacked the financial planning for a serious purchase.
Belonging to the land of the Ganga and Jamuna I had grown up listening about the must have Benarasi saris in every woman's trusseau. In fact my parents and in laws were kind enough to have ticked this box for me two decades ago but I was uninitiated to the status of a kanjiveram sari in an Indian woman's collection. My hosts told me that they called it Pattu and every one of them had these proud possessions.
So the after a few months when I planned to come to Chennai on an official visit to the hundred year old New College on Peter's Road in Royapettah locality I had made a silent prayer to be able to have the time and circumstances to finally lay my hands upon a Kanjiveram. When I told my host in Chennai about my interest in textile and ethnic fabric he nodded to his wife talking on Tamil of which I could only fathom the word - Pothys! He said it is an ocean of saris.
When I did reach the largest Chennai showroom in Chennai - yes, my hostess said there are countless branches of Pothys in Chennai, I did agree it is an unfathomable ocean even if I had spared the entire evening for buying my first kanjiveram. It is kanchipuram as they display it there and it has many names - vasundhara pattu, samudrika pattu and parampara pattu are just a few of them. There I learnt that Saana is also a name of a type of silk - so far I had seen only tussar, jute, matka and raw silk, no wonder that they were all there at the classified counters of Pothys. The counters are not only classified according to the type of sari they offer but also the range of price. If there are a zillion colors on earth I am sure they were all there and if you have a lifetime of wearing and buying saris the days will be short to wear them all.
Every nook of the 7 floor showroom was bustling with customers yet there was no chaos. For this the credit goes to fine management at the showrooms. Large king size mirrors every where, courteous salesmen all wearing the Chandan tika on forehead and a strictly no bargain policy give a smooth shopping experience. Every one at Pothys seems to be knowing the right thing to do in minimum words. Cash counters are numerous on all floors, one separate section for packaging is there and some men are constantly engaged in tying knots to the silk threads that hang loose after a customer has bought the sari and the blouse has been separated from the distance end. All this with very little words and too much precision so that there is never a mix up. They display on mannequins is attractive and the salesmen are quick to fold and re stack the unfurled saris after a customer has made a selection. Imagine they have young girls employed only to help the customer drape the sari round her and assess how it would look on wearing.
That is not all, Pothys is a complete sari solution. They have umpteen designer blouses, fancy tassles, buttons, embellishments and laces to decorate the blouses and all matching petticoats in all colors and sizes possible. If you like their stitched version it all for you but if you are like me, looking for a more bespoke version, please select from the thousands of spools of running fabric in the basement.
They try to make shopping every inch a pleasure. You are greeted with veni sellers outside so you can walk in with a handful of fragrant Jasmine. They have traditional flower arrangements with rose petals in scented water standing in huge stone hauz where there are cushioned stools for the tired husband while the wife just can't have enough of Pothys. Also for children to be busy and not disturb moma while she is on the prowl getting spoiled by the choice at Pothys there black wooden elephant statues decorated with gold armor to amuse the kid. The little one smiles when daddy clicks his picture with this majestic object.
The success of Pothys has many more factors behind. Clean rest rooms on each floor, large glass capsule elevators landing on the water work in the ground floor and tea, coffee and cold drink stalls where unlimited supply is maintained regardless of whether you are buying or not, are just a few of them.
Thank you for the wonderful experience pothy. Appreciate your sincerity, Innovation and rooted culture.
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