Sumana Bhattacharya
Naari in a Saree: Celebrating International Women’s Day in Style & Grandeur

From Indira Gandhi to Indra Nooyi, there is so many successful women leader - but in our blog, we always talk about style, fashion, tips, and other glam topics. We hardly have hit or celebrated the women of the world in a different manner. So this International Women’s Day 2023, I thought to celebrate the style and grandeur of those celebrated women who have made a special mark in the History of India and the world. Whether it’s business, technology, politics, or any other field, women have stood strong and proven themselves in leadership roles ranging from CEO to Prime Minister.
Let’s take a route through all these celebrated women in India who have won fame across the map and how they celebrate their style as a saree.
Are you ready to meet those “naari in a saree?”

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan – Chief Scientist of WHO
The Indian pediatrician and clinical scientist is serving as the chief scientist of the World Health Organization since March 2019. She previously chaired the WHO, ICMR, and the AIIMS New Delhi. She is highly known for her globally-recognized research on HIV and tuberculosis and her work as a member of the high scientific panel at the Global Health Summit.
The distinguished Indian scientist has been honored with several awards, including fellowships from eminent Indian science academies and a lifetime achievement award from the Indian Association of Applied Microbiologists.
Here is a glam and sho-sha style of Dr. Soumya in a saree. She prefers simple cotton, and tussar and often we have seen her choosing embroidery sarees or batik work, or raw silks in her daily wardrobe when she attends various health summits in and out of India.

Madhabi Puri Buch - Chairperson of SEBI
Last March 2022, she was appointed as the new chairperson of the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI), thus making her the first woman to head SEBI as well as the first former private sector top-level executive to lead the markets regulator. An alumna of St. Stephens Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad, the experienced businesswoman is noted for her prior work in ICICI, PRADAN, and Idea Cellular.
This lady has been showcasing her great style and love for saree by bringing out her wardrobe with block prints, and ikat print and even she has a sheer love for raw silks as well.

Falguni Nayar - Founder & CEO of Nykaa
Okay, she is the wealthiest self-made female Indian billionaire, and she has been making headlines repeatedly - mentioning the greatest of this decade - Falguni Nayar, CEO of Nykaa. A graduate of Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics Mumbai and IIM Ahmedabad, Nayar’s meteoric rise as a self-made businesswoman became a globally celebrated feat.
This empowering Indian businesswomen entered the beauty industry from an illustrious 20-year career in investment banking and succeeded against all odds, catapulting her company to popularity and winning multiple accolades.
She is real fun and you can see her sporting in a saree in different award functions to event - like in a post from Instagram we saw her shaking legs with Ranveer Singh. You will see her sporting in amazing gadwals, tanchoi, matka cotton to amazing Gujrati stitch collections.
Check the Instagram post here, where Falguni is matching steps with Ranveer- https://www.instagram.com/p/BBakj67KuiF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Soma Mondal, Chairperson of SAIL - (Steel Authority of India Limited)
Well, particularly the Iron lady of India in 2023 - Soma Mondal became the first woman to chair the state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) in January 2021.
She has led the steelmaker to record financial growth since taking over: the company's profits surged surged threefold to 120 billion rupees in her first year at the helm.Mondal first became a director for the company in 2017. She's responsible for launching an 80,000-million-rupee effort to expand production capacity.
She has more than three decades of experience in the metals industry. After graduating from college with a degree in electrical engineering, she joined state-run National Aluminium Co.
The lady has loved her drape since a long time - from her office to the various SAIL events we have seen her wearing ikat, raw silk with large temple border to jamdani of various fusion and traditional style.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas - Actor, Producer, Forbes 100 Most Infleuntial Women of 2022
The Miss World 2000 is now one of the highest-paid actress in India who bagged tow national Film Awards, 5 Filmfare Awards and honored with Padmashri, is also in the Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. She has made an incredible journey from Bollywood to Hollywood and not just in movies she is currently one of the most successful entrepreneur.
Chopra's other ventures include tech investments, a haircare brand, a restaurant, and a homeware line. She promotes social causes such as environment and women's rights and is vocal about gender equality, the gender pay gap, and feminism. She has worked with UNICEF since 2006 and was appointed as the national and global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for child rights in 2010 and 2016. On Instagram, Chopra is the most followed Indian actor.
You can see her sporting all the Bollywood Diva style whenever she is sporting herself in a saree - from georgette to sequin, Parsi embroidery to the linen of classic material - she has tried out and mingled the wardrobe with great elegance.
Check Priyanka's Instagram channel
Women are considered more emotional than men, but successful woman leaders in India are those who are extremely resilient in their work. Even if problems or difficulties come, women leaders need to fight to get up and stay resilient in what they do.
These people whom I mentioned above, are hugely celebrated and they are the true form of the Naari’s of 2023. And observe, the saree makes every woman differently elegant and poised. All of the women mentioned in my blog today have worn sarees which are quite common to IndyVogue and trust me you can style like too and bring out your own elegance to match the step of beauty with grace and brains.
Author's Bio
Sumana Bhattacharya completed her Masters in Economics from the University of Calcutta & was working with the Department of Education, Govt. of West Bengal to provide training to the teachers in Government Schools. She moved to USA in 2005 after getting married & is the mother of 2 kids. She is the one that drives IndyVogue every day, every hour, every minute and every second. Salute to her and her undying spirit.