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WHEN she was a little girl Angela Basak would admire her mum’s collection of clothes.

She had a wardrobe full of saris of all colours adorned with intricate patterns and beading.

As she grew up she found that the traditional garments formed an integral part of her life from the vivid saris she wore to attend religious festivals as a child to the more embellished designs that marked her transition into adulthood.

Angela’s parents were both brought up in India before moving to England in 1968 after they were married.

Mum-of-two Angela, 41, spent her early years in Winchester before the family set up home in Netherton in the late 1970s.

The former nursing home worker remembers her mum’s colourful collection of handmade saris and her first experience wearing them as a little girl.

She said: “Mum would wear them all the time, quite often around the house which I think reflected her traditional upbringing in India.

“Mum made her own clothing and lots of different saris. Some were really lovely with decorations like sequins sewn on.

“I didn’t really start wearing saris until I was a teenager, except for a few occasions when I was very young like festivals, parties and weddings.”

Angela was aged around nine when she started wearing the garment for the big Hindu festivals she would attend with her family in Leeds and Bradford.

These included the Durga Puja, an annual festival which celebrates the worship of the Hindu goddess Durga.

Angela, who still lives in Netherton with her family, said: “The festival is held in September/October time and is like Christmas for us.

“Everybody dresses up and it’s tradition to give children new clothes as presents to wear.

“Children play an important part in the festivals and there’s a wonderful atmosphere with everybody coming together to take part.

“I would also wear saris for other special occasions like ceremonies for my brothers where we pray for their long life.”

Angela started to wear saris more frequently in her teens – and had mastered the tricky art of putting one on by the age of 14.

She said: “The material can up to five yards in length so can be quite difficult to wrap around properly.

“There are six steps to putting on a sari and you’ve got to make sure the pleats are folded right so it sits right over the blouse and petticoat underneath.

“There’s several different ways of wearing one. I will usually wear mine draped over one shoulder with quite a bit of the material hanging down.

“It can take a while to do to start with but now I can put one on in two to three minutes.”

Angela has built up quite a collection of saris. The most treasured include the sky blue patterned sari passed down by her mum and more elaborate bridal sari featuring silver and gold stones.

She said: “There’s a lot more choice these days and I’ve got a wardrobe full of saris, from quite plain ones for wearing at home to more expensive ones embellished with gold and silver threading or blue beading and little diamantes for special occasions and festivals.

“I started wearing them a lot more in my teens. It marked a transition into adulthood and after I got married I wore saris nearly all the time – it felt like the right traditional thing to do.”

Although Angela was born in this country she got a real flavour of how Indian women traditionally dress when she married her doctor husband, Rabindranath.

The pair visited Rabindranath’s parents in their village in Calcutta where Angela got the chance to see the workings of her in-laws’ cotton sari business.

Angela, who has sons Debanjan, 19, and Debaloy, 17, said: “It’s tradition for families to give their daughter-in-law a present when they meet for the first time and I was given some saris in orange and black with gold and blue and gold.

“It was very interesting to see the business and how they were made. The work is very intricate and it can take a few hours to days to sew all the details on.

“The saris are made out of cotton there instead of silk like the ones we get over here and are much cooler which is better for the heat.

“They are more difficult to put on. You’ve got to really press the pleats down because they are starched to make them crispy.”

While Angela prefers more traditional dress, many of her friends wear more westernised clothing for everyday activities – which she admits is more practical when it comes to running for a train.

She believes Indian clothing has had a real influence on British fashion in recent years, but prefers accessorising her outfits with jewellery found in our high street stores.

She said: “I have a few Indian pieces but I prefer the imitation jewellery you can get over here.

“Indian jewellery can be quite plain but here I think you can get much nicer, more colourful pieces. They go really well with the saris!”