Beauty Vs Utility – Example of the sari

Q: Nishtha praises the Indian saris and says that our women have a keen sense of colour.

She is right. I hope our women are not going to give up saris under the Western influence.

Q: But, saris, though graceful, don’t seem to be good for active work; they are inconvenient.

Why? The Romans conquered the world in their togas! Plenty of Indian women do their work with their saris on. When this craze for utility comes, beauty goes to the dogs.This is the modern tendency. The moderns look at everything from point of view of utility, as if beauty were nothing.

– Sri Aurobindo