Watch: Saree-clad elderly women diving into Thamirabarani river in Tamil Nadu

Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu): A video showing a group of saree-clad elderly women effortlessly diving into the Thamirabarani river at Kallidaikurichi in Tamil Nadu has gone viral on social media. Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Supriya Sahu shared the video on Twitter explaining that it is a regular affair for these incredibly adept and unflinching women to jump or dive wearing sarees at Kallidaikurichi.

"Awestruck to watch these sari-clad elderly women effortlessly diving in river Tamirabarni at Kallidaikurichi in Tamil Nadu. I am told they are adept at it as it is a regular affair," said IAS officer Supriya Sahu in a tweet. The video opens to show an elderly woman, wearing a saree, standing on a platform near the river. Soon, she effortlessly dives in. Within moments, another woman climbs onto the platform and dives into the waterbody. 

In the 20-second clip, the video has collected over 118K views so far. It has got over 1,600 likes and 210 retweets. The brilliant diving skills of the women have hooked the users to the video. It has also received several comments. A user wrote, "Thanks for sharing, madam." Another user wrote, "This usually is an everyday chore for men, women and kids in village wells, diving from the top! They are perfectly deft in that."

"Tamarabarani is a healing river--pure and scenic--I hope it isn't being subject to the unfortunate pollution that we're causing the other great rivers in our country," a user commented. However, a few users have raised concerns and said that diving in a saree could be potentially dangerous. A user wrote, "Maybe someone advises them that they are terrific, but saree can be risky for swimming."