The last few weeks I’ve been looking for the perfect gift for my mom for Mother’s Day. Yes, Yes, I know that it’s weird because it’s May and Mother’s Day in the UK is in March but I’m from South Africa and we celebrate it on the second Sunday in May. 

For my mom and I, it is an extra special celebration because that is also the day she had me. I’m her Mother’s Day gift and as she puts it, I’ll never be able to give a gift that tops it, But I still spend lots of time trying to find something special.

As much as she really loves my chocolate, most especially the orange and chilli Bar and would be so happy if I sent her some, she is a diabetic and can only eat tiny bits of it. Also my Dad would kill me for sending her loads of chocolate. Although he is very fond my mint and rum and raisin bars himself. 

I finally settled for a pretty saree which is an Indian outfit. A saree is a long piece of cloth which is wrapped and draped around the body, it’s quite an art to get it to hang just right. I’m still not very good at it. I chose a white Banarasi  silk with a pink border. Hopefully I’ll get a picture of her wearing it. She’s amazingly fast at folding all those pleats, unlike me. There are at least 18 different ways to drape a saree and at one time you could almost tell where a lady was from in India according to how she draped her saree. Different areas had different styles. 

A Banarasi saree is a saree made in Varanasi, a city in India which is also called Benares or Banaras. The sarees are among the finest sarees in India and are known for their gold and silver brocade or zari, fine silk and opulent embroidery. Wikipedia