02 April,2019 06:17 AM IST | Mumbai | C Y Gopinath
A cotton sari catches fire in 5 seconds and is fully aflame at 200*C in 30 seconds
I 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 ago.
On March 21, a cryptic WhatsApp message arrived from one of the gang, Samit - Lata's health report - suffering from thyroid, cholesterol, took her lunch, deep burns. Since been observed but she is conscious with strong mindset.
This was not his first message about Lata, nor was I the first recipient. I called him right away.
The 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 heat.
Instinct, not logic, takes over at such times. She didn't 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 unit.
Lata 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 - except that she is eating less and less, losing consciousness periodically, and now also fighting skin infections that have set in.
And I'm wondering what's so great about saris.
Let me put some facts out there first. A sari's length can vary from 3.5 yards (10.5 feet) to 9 yards (27 feet). Although in pre-colonial 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 requirements
of modesty.
No 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 - it takes both time and some skill. Needless to say, shucking off a sari is no quickie either. For example, when it catches fire.
Which brings me to my last exhibit - 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 women.
A two-year WHO-sponsored 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 time".
A cotton sari catches fire in 5 seconds and is fully aflame at 200°C in 30 seconds. Polyester - 20 seconds, 100°C and 60 seconds to full fire. Silk saris, most popular among the rich, is most flammable: 5-10 seconds to catch fire, reaching 250-300°C in 15.
Scientists advise against wearing loose-fitting clothes or those made from thin fabrics near any flames. This excludes the three garments most commonly worn in India - the sari, salwar kameez and housecoats.
The Health Ministry said 70 lakh Indians suffer burns annually, and 1.4 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 - and women aged 15 to 35. The data is from 2012. What are today's numbers?
I'm 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 trap.
They 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 world's highest peaks?
Here, 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 cygopi@gmail.com Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
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