Working on various projects had me cooped up in the house for too long and I needed a change of surroundings to simply chill out for a bit and the
Dastkar Nature Bazaar provided just that.
A society for crafts and craftspeople
Dastkar is a registered society that aims at improving the economic status of craftspeople, thereby promoting the survival of traditional crafts. It was founded in 1981 by six women, who had worked in the craft and development sector.
Some of what caught my eye.
Dried gourds as lampshades. Quite pretty when lit up.
Some crafts people I was seeing for the first time like this stall which had masses of oxidised silver charms and beads wrapped and macramed into jewellery. I saw some girls getting their hair twined with thread. Wonder if they got bells and charms dangling at the end.
Mirror work embroidery from western India.
Colied grass baskets and containers from Bihar
Applique from Orissa.This was a fairly large hanging.
I go each year to buy sarees for my mother and I bought a little elephant wind chime/hanging/bell thingy, very cute. Incidentally the theme for the bazaar this year was the elephant.
The bazaar is on until the 1st of Sep, 10am to 7pm. The Naga lady has some bead necklaces which are very tempting, maybe I'll go back and go overboard and give Visa/Mastercard some copy for their next priceless advertisement.
Jewellery, sarees, & everything in sight - Rs.75,000
Twined and charm laden extreme hairdo - Rs.5,000
Expression on husband's face - Priceless
(The joke would be on me if R didn't recognise me with my extreme hippy hairdo but then again...)
Traditional bamboo baskets of Kerala. 
Its going to be a while before I get back to my old routine which will allow me to post on a regular basis as internet access is not always available at the places where I go for my craft projects.
