Delhiwale: The saree wali lawyer

Bhavita Modi Sachdev owns more than 300 sarees with most of them contributed by her mother and mother-in-law.

She almost never buys them but owns more than 300 sarees anyway.

Bhavita Modi Sachdeva at her apartment in south Delhi’s Mandakini Enclave. (Mayank Austen Soofi / HT Photo)

A startling detail that has transformed Bhavita Modi Sachdeva into something of an Instagram star. Visitors to travelista_in_saree get an exclusive peek into her vast wardrobe.

This young lawyer explains that most of her sarees have come from her mother in San Francisco and the rest have been contributed by her mother-in-law in Allahabad. “But I rarely buy them,” she says in all modesty.

We’re talking in her amiable apartment in south Delhi’s Mandakini Enclave which is also packed with law books — Ms Sachdeva and her husband have active legal practices.

This profession has an impact on her saree wardrobe. Only black and white combinations are permitted when appearing in Delhi high court. Coloured sarees are simply out of the question. Ms Sachdeva was once reprimanded by a woman judge because her saree bore a discreet red border.

What’s clearly lacking in her wardrobe are blouses. Instead usually she wears T-shirts with the sarees, “mostly purchased from M-Block Market vendors.”

The wardrobe reveals dozens of handbags as well, “but the trouble is, I don’t use most of them.”

Ms Sachdeva just sticks to one or two that can be loaded with her legal files when heading for court. Indeed, we spy a pink Michael Kors lying beside the Victoria Beckham sunglasses.

Next week, she heads for the Himalayas. Not surprisingly, she’ll be trekking in a saree.