Ms Emily Rita Berkshire reflects on her good fortune as she waits in line, dressed in her black academic gown, gold satin cape and black mortarboard. She had attended the best private schools and one of the best universities in England where she had received her Bachelors degree in Law, now she was about to receive her Masters degree in Law. Her loving parents are wealthy although not ostentatious. Her father is native English and her mother Anglo-Indian, her maternal grandfather was Brahmin caste, the highest in the strict Indian caste system. She looks over to her extended family attending this very special day in her life and beams a smile toward them. Her name is called and she crosses the stage to receive her certificate from the Chancellor, who congratulates her before she shakes hands with the Vice Chancellor and then returns to the auditorium, smiling to her family all the way.
Her mother's brother, and Emily's favourite Uncle, Sanjit, is head of an old established and well regarded legal chambers in Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, in the West Bengal state of India. The chambers were established during the British Raj with an inclusive attitude towards Anglo-Indian attorneys. Since Emily had started at law school her mother, Dhanika, and Uncle Sanjit had talked many times about Emily joining him in his chambers. She will start as a pupil barrister and all are confident she will make a fine barrister. Naturally she will live as part of the family in their Raj style house, not far from the famous Victoria Memorial. Arrangements were completed and a week later, following tear-filled farewells, she boards her flight at London's Heathrow airport for a 10 hour flight to Kolkata's Dum Dum airport where she is met by her Uncle Sanjit and Auntie Anjuli. The family car is a large black Mercedes V Class driven by their own uniformed chauffeur. On arrival at the grand old house, she is shown to her room and she unpacks while Auntie Anjuli brings her the most beautiful sari outfit as a welcome gift.
After showering, Emily's bearer, i.e. her personal servant and a stunning beauty, Sansa, arrives to help her dress in her new outfit. Standing in just her bra and thong, she puts on a pair of pretty green flat shoes, Sansa holds the waist of a green cotton petticoat open for her, which she steps into. Sansa lifts it to her waist and ties it securely with the drawstring, to prevent the weight of the sari pulling it down. Next is the choli, a gold coloured cotton blouse. Holding her arms out in front of her, Sansa slips the short sleeves along her arms and into place so her bra is properly covered, then goes round to fasten the pretty gold buttons at the back. Finally it is time for the sari. Sansa tucks the upper end of the sari into the petticoat at the front and gathers 6 pleats together, each about 5 inches wide, carefully ensuring that the pleats are even so they almost touch the floor. Using a safety pin to hold the pleats in place, she tucks the top of the pleats, with the safety pin, into the petticoat.
Sansa winds the sari around Emily once, rising on the second pass to go under her right arm and over the left shoulder where she uses another safety pin which she hides under the choli blouse at the shoulder. This fastens the rest of the material, the part hanging down her back (or to be draped over her hair) known as the pallu, to stop it slipping off her shoulder. Emily had worn a sari on visits home many times before but now as an Anglo-Indian resident of Kolkata, she stands in front of the mirror and gasps with pleasure. The sari is a beautiful green chiffon, embroidered with a pattern of gold leaves in the bottom 12-18 inches. Sansa puts her dark hair in the Indian style pony tail and does her Indian make-up that makes her eyes look bigger. She is delighted with herself and her Indian ancestry.
