In recent years, the sari has been reinvented. The urbanyouth who previously associated the sari with dressingup can now be found wearing saris and sneakers on theircommutes to work. Designers are experimenting withhybrid forms such as sari gowns and dresses, pre-drapedsaris and innovative materials such as steel. Wearersare embodying the sari as a vessel for dynamism ratherthan pageantry. Individuals are wearing the sari as anexpression of resistance to social norms and activistsare embodying it as an object of protest. Today, the sarimanifests as a site for design innovation, an expressionof identity and a crafted object carrying layers of culturalmeanings.The Offbeat Sari focuses on the sari in Urban India,following the lead of the Design Museum's exhibition. Itcomprises a series of commissioned essays by notableIndian writers expanding on some of the themes that arecentral to the definition of the sari in contemporary Indiaand pegged to objects displayed in the exhibition.