a Delhi rush and then Pushkar and home

Tour finished and one busy, busy day rushing around Delhi buying things for people I supply in other places, and checking out what is available in Sadar Bazaar- Delhi's famous wholesale market. In India people seem to belive nearly anything can be found there- the wealth of possibilities is certainly vast in that great seething rabbit warren of a place.

Just getting there can be difficult as mortorized tuk tuks won't go there, the traffic is so bad. Your only option is a cycle rickshaw and even they will only go to the edge, it is then either by foot or find a richshaw wallah local to the market.

I was most interested in buckles and studs at this time and found a guy who could supplyu me with the tackle to make rip off copies of well known brands if I so desired- amazing!!
Then out of the frying pan and into the fire hitting the back streets and alleys of Chandi Chowk for sparkles and haberdashery...it is so exciting to wander these places semi-lost working out how they all connect.

When I first started coming to Delhi I found the crowds, congestion and vastness of it all overwhelming and must admit it took a few visits to the edges before I truely dived in...I still think it is not for the faint hearted in some ways and would only take certain people with me...a whole tour group perhaps but I would be nervous of wanderers getting lost...like a huge maze it could take days to get out.

But oh is it exhilarating to explore all alone and wandering...Indian Jones of the textile world...lots of time for daydreaming too, obviously!

Then an early train to Ajmer to make the drive over the mountain to Pushkar, some of these pics explain what I like about India- the unexpctedness of it all.

he was just digging out dirt and dropping it down onto the road...the same raod we were driving along...thankfully we weren't there when some rather large stones rained down as well!

Can you see how misty it is today- it felt more like England than India with clouds sitting on the mountain ...

Ahh yes home!

Textiles, Fatehpur Sikri and camels

This was a bit of a dream, we were pulling a textile shop to pieces looking at treasure, being the lazy type I parked myself on a lounge and my enthusiastic ladies piled me high with treasures they further wanted to consider...some of the pieces were as good as any we saw in museums and here we are fondling them!! I woke up the next morning still full of the magic of the colours and textures.

Meet Khan Bhai, the lead camel in a charmimg herd we met along the road- he was so beautiful....I want a camel!!

Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned city, populated now by memories and a few bats, they chittered at me for waking them with my flash and then went back to sleep. Hopefully Akbar's dreams of a resolution of differences between religions will one day be more than a dream that rattles around a forgotten city....

So many visits and yet each time there is an excitement of finding something new, a detail I have missed before, here memories of elephants on one of the buildings spark imaginations of what it must of been like in its hey day...

time passing...

My new camera is allowing me to see details on buildings I have visited often ...the old tombs at Lodi Gardens have a wealth of details still extant but up so high it is hard to discern then from the ground...

Farewell dinner ..it is funny the tour starts so slow then you reach a point where time seems to speed up so fast nad passes- Note to self- enjoy and saviour each moment -as you can see we have been.

The camel Khan Bhai had such soft ears and an inquisitive nature- he was a moment to savour!

Many of our ladies worked up some great stitching into the pieces we made in our felt workshop- one inspired us all with the work she put into her journal. This was one of her good ideas collecting matchbox lids and assembling them. Fantastic isn't it?

It was my birthday yesterday and what a wonderful day it was.

It is strange- there is always something new to learn and Praveen has been such a big teacher in so many ways.

I had a pretty rough time growing up, very little celebration or fuss was ever made and you knew if something special did happen drunken, nasty violence was soon to follow- I have worked very hard not to have those patterns occur in my adult life and think I have done a good job seeing it did not happen to my children or myself but I have never really been able to relax and enjoy something like my birthday as there was still a lingering, underlying feeling of keep your head down.

Yesterday started with breakfast with the ladies of my group in a lovely garden, the kindest gift of a book I really wanted and appreciate ssssoooooooo much, phone calls from different people and it was nicely proceeding as a quiet day of travel with the excitment of arriving in Udaipur.

In the evening as I was just heading off to meet everyone for dinner Praveen rings; usually when I am away on the phone we deal with details of our work and our day, moon around missing each other for a few minutes and hang up, to look forward to next chat or meeting up.

Last night he was extra sweet [can't really say that as he is very sweet with me already] and kept chatting.

It was so lovely chatting to him, I thought I would stop and sit in a corner and be a few minutes late for my ladies...which was not what he wanted- he said no, no, no go up to the roof, Vijay [his brother] wants you...the restaurant on the roof was decked out for a party!

Roses on the table, a cake, lovely guests and Praveen on the phone. So lovely, so special and something it is more than OK to relax into and enjoy. Thanks so much to everyone.

You can make your life anyway you want it to be but there comes a point where you also need to sit back and then relax into what you have created and enjoy it.

Thank you Praveen my biggest teacher.

Just wonderful

Love is in the details

My brother-in-law is helping us on this tour- with the new hotel and camel fair Praveen had to stay home ond look after the hotel, so Vijay was volunteered to become cheif group leader- as you can see we have kept him really busy.

Patan Patola

double ikat weaving- lovely people upholding an ancient tradition. The warp and the weft [the threads that go down the fabric and those that go across it] are individually tied and dyed {in many hues using natural dyes] to the weave the pattern which arrises from the overlapping of the two threads. The patience involved absolutly blows my mind as we are talking the finest silk threads being used...line up now if you want a sari the waiting list is currently 6 years long.

Ahmedabad is home to one of the great bookshops of the world-The Art Bookshop small and full of sparkly decorations I have to phone ahead so they can bring those we are interested in to the top of the stacks. I have found them very reliable over the years and know they will happily and reeliably post to the far corners of the earth...and what they have would be the best collection I have so far spotted or imagined.

I know I have my moments sounding like an advertising campaign, I do not get paid to do that, or to put links on my site...I am just waffling on because these are people and places I genuinely like.

home for the night- the type of place you could get used to, tonight I am sharing my siut with the lady of the house- I enjoy their quirky inclusions

Poshina

An old fort and the Ladie's courtyard all to ourselves, time to decorate and then make felt, stitch and hang around relaxing.....a good day

Around and about, we visited the lady of the house's collection of antique textiles in the afternoon for hours of dress ups and looking [or shopping as the case may be!]

Pushkar to Jodhpur

Well I hope you look at these pictures and think- hmm better pictures, not only have I a clean lense but Praveen and I have splashed out and bought a much better camera.
Surprising how little the cost is, to be light years ahead in the abilities of the camera and it is small enough we don't need a trailer to get the gear around.
It is a Fuji finepix s 2000 and we would whole heartedly recommend it to anyone- it is so good to use
- light weight, good zoom, automatic or manuel...I know I sound like an ad but it was a big step for us, we had to get advise from a friend to choose and are so pleased with the result.
Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur again!
yes I truely do enjoy coming back to these places time and again
being on tour we get to visit many old friends of the living and architectural kinds, because we decide on the itinerary if we loose interest in a place we have the option of changing the route- not bad to keep the enthusiasm high...

Many pics from around the fort, this is one of the formal rooms that has been restotred -you can see from the pillars the outside all plain and the inside of the room carrying 20 kg of gold leaf and 11 years worth of detailed painting to do the walls- not a bad little pad to impress visitors from??

2 of my gorgoreous girls that I am travelling with- tres chic!!

My best mate Dawn has started selling some of her rusat dyed fabrics and other assorted goodies on etsy, have a look at her shop. http://magpiesteaparty.etsy.com/

I am too chicken to rust dye things- I would put me hand in the wrong vat and she has kindly made me many lovely bits over the years...

I am so pleased- I love her stuff and all her procedds are going to tickets to hang out with me in India - a very exciting prospect.

Pushkar Camel Fair

Camel man waiting...

camel waiting....life is so tiring sometimes

some of the kids from Shakti Project spotted me and were highly amused to see me perched on a camel

it just stretches on and on into the sunset...

this one about sums it up, amazing and surreal spring to mind

Back home to our hotel and gypsy dancers before dinner- great night and tomrrow more camel fair to look forward to...wow