How the Sari Came To Define New York

Lalitha Krishnan wore a sari on the plane from the south Indian state of Kerala to New York, where she was traveling to study for a Ph.D on a full scholarship. Krishnan would go on to do pioneering work developing pharmaceutical drugs that combat multi-drug resistant infections.

When Dr. Krishnan finally received an award for her work in 1991—as a rare woman of color in her field, often witnessing others take credit for her research—once again, she wore a sari.

34 years later, that dazzling yellow zari-lined silk is part of The New York Sari exhibit at the New York Historical Society . The initial idea for the exhibit came from journalist S. Mitra Kalita and Shekar Krishnan , who is Dr. Krishnan’s son and the first Indian American to be elected to New York’s City Council.

The