Meeting up with Ms Morarka is a revelation. Her only concern is her family and her business of reviving the old weaves. "I am not a society person at all. I am so busy researching into the old weaves and thinking of colour combinations and patterns that I don't have the time to think of a glamorous life. Anyway, I am happy the way I am," she says. Ms Morarka's interest in Benarasi weaves was sparked off by her mother's setting up of the Jnana Pravaha, an institute for cultural studies in Benares. "I went to meet her there and met up with a very senior and talented weaver who wanted me to find a job for his son. On being asked why he was not being inducted into the traditional business of weaving, he said that there is no future in this business. And I was shocked for here was a weaver who had bagged the President's medal. If a master craftsman like him felt like that, one can well imagine the state of others. A loss of a weaver is much more than the loss of a skilled worker. It is the loss of an invaluablelink to our glorious past, a loss to our history. So, I asked him to set up two looms and start work exclusively for me. I had no idea what I would do with his weaves."

During her frequent visits to Benares, Ms Morarka met a few other master weavers and in no time the magic of weaving became an obsession with her.

The weavers were reluctant at first until they were assured of patronage. Ms Morarka began working with the designs and colours the weavers were comfortable with. Later, she did extensive research and now sketches the designs and decides on the colour combinations. Her organisation has grown from two looms to 80 looms. "I have 50 weavers working for me all the year through and 30 more workers are added from February to September."

Her first exhibition of handlooms were held in Mumbai and it was a major sellout. "I was overwhelmed by the turnout and my saris were off the shelves in that one-day exhibition, which has now become a regular feature," she reveals. Ms Morarka says she has handlooms woven in a mix of cotton and silk which costs Rs 4,500. The lowest priced sari is done on thread cotton and silk, which is pegged at Rs 2,750. A kora silk sari is sold at Rs 14,995 and some even cost Rs 30,000.

Ms Morarka rues the fact that most Indians don't respect sari wearing. "It is fabulous 6-yards of unstitched fabric from India. One looks so graceful in it. I wish youngsters would wear it. I can understand that work and other pressures do not permit one to wear a sari daily. But one should wear it for formal occasions like pujas and dinners," she says. As for herself, Ms Morarka sports only handlooms. "Whenever I have a choice to buy a sari, I buy only handlooms for subconsciously one feels that by doing that one is stoking a fire in a weaver's family somewhere. And that is a nice feeling."

She adds: ``In the future, I would like to cater to designers abroad who want heritage designs or products in limited quality. I would like to put the sari on the world map."