The woman in the burning sari

Doctors say that Latas spirit is indomitable That she is fighting back even as she slips in and out of consciousness in her 18th day at the burn unit of Bangur Hospital KolkataI first met her when I was 22 assigned to write a feature on rock climbing on the invitation of a rock climbing club Lata belonged to The group travelled to Susunia a favorite rock climbing destination in Bengal We all became lifelong friends staying in and out of touch but never losing warmth and affection Everyone married everyone had children everyone became grandparents some lost their spouses A few passed away Lata was widowed some years agoOn March 21 a cryptic WhatsApp message arrived from one of the gang Samit mdash Latas health report mdash suffering from thyroid cholesterol took her lunch deep burns Since been observed but she is conscious with strong mindsetThis was not his first message about Lata nor was I the first recipient I called him right awayThe accident had happened six days earlier on the morning of 15 March Lata had sat down in the prayer room after a bath when the edge of her garment touched a flame and began to burn Synthetics and mixed fabrics burn slower than pure cotton so it was a while before she sensed the heatInstinct not logic takes over at such times She didnt think to shuck her garments but instead fled upstairs trying to douse the flames with her hands It was almost five hours later that she reached a hospital with a fully equipped burns unitLata had third and second degree burns on her outer thighs stomach chest hands and lower jaw In some places the fabric had fused with her skin She has been in hospital for over two weeks undergone two surgeries and will be taken for a third mdash except that she is eating less and less losing consciousness periodically and now also fighting skin infections that have set inAnd Im wondering whats so great about sarisLet me put some facts out there first A saris length can vary from 35 yards 105 feet to 9 yards 27 feet Although in precolonial times the sari alone was considered adequate as an overall cover for a woman requiring neither petticoat nor blouse the prudish British rulers added a petticoat and a blouse to the requirementsof modestyNo other culture on the planet requires its women to be submerged in so much flammable material on a daily basis The average Indian woman is cocooned in unnaturally voluminous amounts of fabric going around her in pleated layers Getting dressed in a sari is not a cinch mdash it takes both time and some skill Needless to say shucking off a sari is no quickie either For example when it catches fireWhich brings me to my last exhibit mdash exposure to fire The Indian woman is closer to a fire more times in her life than an Indian man the cooking fire the lamps in the prayer room more if you count diyas at Diwali Read the Ramayana and you might even conclude fires were considered good for womenA twoyear WHOsponsored study at the IIT Delhi dispels the myth that cotton saris are safer concluding that cotton saris in particular catch fire easily and the flames engulf the whole body in a matter of seconds The flames on synthetic saris are smaller and the whole sari does not catch fire every timeA cotton sari catches fire in 5 seconds and is fully aflame at 200degC in 30 seconds Polyester mdash 20 seconds 100degC and 60 seconds to full fire Silk saris most popular among the rich is most flammable 510 seconds to catch fire reaching 250300degC in 15Scientists advise against wearing loosefitting clothes or those made from thin fabrics near any flames This excludes the three garments most commonly worn in India mdash the sari salwar kameez and housecoatsThe Health Ministry said 70 lakh Indians suffer burns annually and 14 lakhs die The greatest concentration of burns cases is in the most joyous time of year Diwali Four out of five burns cases are children mdash and women aged 15 to 35 The data is from 2012 What are todays numbersIm the wrong gender to write this I know My sense of fashion also sucks But in all honesty when I see a sari now I see a death trapThey say mountaineers never give up that every obstacle is a new mountain to climb A part of me is praying Lata will scale this peak too Surely a few burns should be light work for a woman who has survived frostbite burns on some of the worlds highest peaksHere viewed from there C Y Gopinath in Bangkok throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai the city that raised him You can reach him at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates