The expression ‘google it’ got a whole new meaning recently, when Indian designer Satya Paul put google search page  on a sari, thereby wrapping a sari around the google world.

Whether you spell it sari, sadi, or saree depending on which regional sound of India you transliterate (but for heavens’ sake don’t call it a sarong), the sari is pretty, if cumbersome. Both as a cultural icon and symbol of national identity, it is right up there with the tilak,  bindi,  or bottu (and for heavens’ sake don’t call it dot),  on the forehead.

Satya Paul took this ageless icon and married it to the icon for an age. The newly designed sari features a web address, for Satya Paul of course, search results and, an verisimilitude of the all familiar Google logo flows across the ‘kongu’ part of the sari, ie. the free distal end of the wrap that goes over the shoulder (usually left, but right in some regions).

 Satya Paul sari for some reason does not show the full word google, the G is replaced with O in the familiar blue color, making it ‘Ooogle sari’.  Deliberate? Copyright issues?  Whatever, it’s still ogle-worthy, and everyone is just calling it the Google Sari. The search results format seems to be quite G-like.

Priced at around $300, the google sari has been around for a while, but only now is gettng some coverage due to the bloggers’ desire to blog everythng. No exception here either. BTW if you like to keep up with sari trends, Saree Dreams is a good place to bookmark.

Yours truly scoured the web for some reactions to this invention, some going back to last winter.

It appears the sari provoked reactions from Indians in America and folks in I.T.  mainly, varying between lusty cheer, and indifferent wit. As befits geeks, computer jokes abound, like: where is the ‘i am feeling lucky button’, what next, yahoo shorts, what would the blouse be made of, will the wearer earn ad revenue, and so on. One wit said, yes shoes are available but only for beta testers, wink! (D.Hetfield).  More examples after jump. That last joke made me think if there is going to be a battle of the G’s in Indian computing industry.                                                                             

 The other G involved in the search engine battle in India is Guruji. Screen shot shown. Look familiar?:

One wonders if big G – how ironic Guruji seems to use little g –  is out to conquer Indian hearts and minds, the ladies specially since there is such a large number of them in IT industry in India. Or, is someone really worried about the fact that the highly locally focussed search engine Guruji  a reverential variant of the word guru, is poised to take off and leave big G behind, at least in sub-contitnent-related search activity. Already Guruji is being called the Google of India.

 You can also follow this link and listen to the brilliant and prolific Internet radio personality Kamla Bhat inteview the honchos of Guruji, namely Anurag Dod and Gaurav Mishra. If you don’t know it, the Kamla Show is an absolute treasure on all things Indian.