Sari in the running, run's an also-ran

How important is it to clearly know what one's objective is? Or, to not mistake one objective for another? Take ESG (environmental, social and governance) norms. Are they to ensure that a for-profit business also has sustainability on its agenda? Or is it merely to tick the right boxes for brand-greening? Or to put profitability in the backseat and make environmentalism the USP of the business?

In a very different field - at Sunday's Manchester Marathon - 41-year-old Madhusmita Jena Das stood out from the crowd not as an 'also-ran' but as a runner who completed the 42.5 km marathon in 4 hours and 50 minutes wearing a Sambalpuri handloom sari made in Odisha where the Mancunian school teacher 'originally' comes from. Plain ergonomics attests that wearing a sari and running aren't made for each other. Das' feat is impressive because she ran a marathon in a sari - akin to, say, climbing a mountain face in a business suit. Her objective - and for that she deserves kudos - was to bring the sari, in general, and the Sambalpuri, in particular, to a wider, unexpected, not-its-usual-context arena. Her point was not to encourage sari as competitive running standard gear - or, as some social media enthusiasts have gushed, to see people wear a Pattu sari in the US Open, or a Tussar silk in a triathlon. That would be missing the sari for the trees.