When last we heard from our heroes they were
regaling one and all with tales of old Amber India and Maharajas of Rajasthan. This
week’s episode opens with our heroes in Jaipur exploring some of the adventures
of this ancient city. Today we will explore jewelry making,
carpet making, how ink block fabric is made, custom tailors, and (wait for it…)
elephant rides.
Jewelry Making
The first event we went to was a
goldsmith. This was pretty amazing. Not only did they make the rings,
bracelets, necklaces, etc. and mount the stones into them, they also cut,
shape, and polish the stones on premises. The pictures are of the gem cutters.
Their gem area consisted of a small (10’x10’) area, covered but otherwise open
to the elements with a cement floor. The gem smiths (?) all sat on the floor,
each one in front of a piece of equipment. One person segmented the larger
stone, cut it to reveal the gem within. The next craftsman would examine the
gem to see how best it could be used. He then would cut the gem into the right
sizes and shapes. Next, a person would start shaping the smaller segments to
fit the jewelry piece being made. The next person would cut the facets into
the stone. The last person would polish the stone and prepare it for mounting. Here are some pictures from Rainbow Jewelers,
where we saw this taking place.
Carpet Making
The next stop on the tour of Jaipur
craftsmen was Saraswathii Global Pvt. Ltd. This place was AMAZING! This was the
headquarters of a network of 1500 families that make hand loomed rugs of
various types. We got an exhibition of how the rugs are knotted on the loom. They showed us how
they burn the rugs to remove fibers and make a smooth, uniform finish. The rugs are then soaked with water and the water
squeegeed out by a crew of men using flat shovels. They then roll the rugs up
and they dry for two months. The final stem is to tie and trim the fringe. One
aspect I thought was particularly striking: looming is a craft passed down
through families. Each family has the secret for one rug pattern. They use
different colored yarns; may use either wool or silk; can make them of various
sizes; but, they only know how to do one pattern. This allows them to maximize
the number of rugs they make over a given period of time.
The carpet place (as we came to call it)
also sold other fabrics and Rae bought a beautiful sari. She had wanted a sari
but we hadn’t taken the time to shop for one. The colors and designs in saris
are incredible and compared with many of them, Rae’s is quite simple. It is
however, beautiful, and she makes it look great!
Ink-block Fabric
The next stop was at Heritage Textiles
and Fabrics. Here the demonstration was how fabric is stamped over several
rounds with hand-held blocks dipped in dye. The first round sets the outline.
The subsequent rounds add different colors. The difficult part is to keep the
blocks perfectly aligned. The dyes used (at least historically and in this
shop) are natural, vegetable-based dyes. The fabrics have to be cotton or
natural
fiber. After the last block is placed,
the fabric is soaked in vinegar water (this brings out the vibrancy of the
colors), then pure water, and then they leave them to dry in the sun for two
days. This sets the colors indelibly into the fabric. Here are pictures of the
process:
Having grown up in a fabric store, Heritage
Textiles and Fabrics was like a dream come true for Rae. Two floors of bolt
after bolt of various kinds of fabric for every purpose. Somehow, while Rae and
Jean Slocombe were looking at hand blocked table cloths, Eric Slocombe and I
wandered over and looked at suit fabric. The next thing I know, I am being
measured for a suit. Ultimately Eric, Jean, and I each had a suit made, Rae had
a pair of silk palazzo pants made to go with a kurta she was given by a couple
in the Branch for Diwali. They took our measurements on Thursday night; we came
back for a final fitting on Friday evening, and picked them up at noon on Saturday.
Unbelievable. The time it took to make these clothes was impressive. So was the
price. For less than two hundred dollars they make these custom fitted suits. I
really didn’t want to spend the money on a suit, even though two of the suits I
brought with me have bitten the dust in the past month. I agreed when we
decided the suit would be an early birthday present. Now I can wear by birthday
suit out in public with no embarrassment or arrests. Here are some pictures of
the process and outcome of the tailoring.
Elephant Rides
The last event to discuss is the one we
most looked forward too: Elephant rides! There are several opportunities for
elephant rides in Jaipur. As you saw in last week’s blontry one of the places
is up to Amber Fort. There are two or three locations where one can ride “retired”
elephants. There is also the Elephant Village, which is where we went. The
Elephant Village is where the elephants who carry tourists up to the Fort live.
The elephants are used to take the tourists up to the Fort in the morning. In
the afternoon they give rides around their compound.
The elephants live in their own
enclosure alongside their rider and handler. There are pods of three elephants
and the riders and their families. The elephants’ enclosures open to the outside
but have large open windows that look into a common courtyard into which each
of the families’ quarters open. It is all very communal. In many ways the
elephants appear to be treated as one of the family.
The riders/handlers bathe, feed and care
for the elephants. Although we only rode, we did get some pictures of one of
the elephants being bathed. If one wants to s/he can help with the bathing. One
can also paint the trunk and/or ears of the elephants. Of course these extra
activities come with additional fees. But wait, there is more. They are
building a hotel on the grounds so that people who want to interact even more
with the elephants can do so but return to a nice hotel room at night.
Well, that’s about it for Jaipur except
camels. We had hoped to ride a camel. They are all over the place in Rajasthan
as they are still used as draft animals. Needing to ride a camel gives us an
excuse for another trip to Jaipur, Here are a couple of camel pictures to whet
your appetite.
Namaste
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