Wanderlust - Rajasthan - Part I
Once a year one must visit at least one new place, where everything is quite unfamiliar. But I am more fortunate and get to visit new places for work all the time.
This March it rained with new places and experiences for me and how!! I have been so fortunate to have visited five new places at one go. That too in Rajasthan, quite the colorful state of India and it will actually take a life time to know. The desert like the mountains is very demanding. More so because of the amplifying weather conditions. The desert diversity is fascinating to say the least. I have soaked up the sights which I had only read or seen in movies earlier.
Like a passing clan of nomads walking the highway with their camels and et all! Or turbaned shepherds with their flocks. Unfortunately, I have no pictures because I was too busy experiencing it and could not manage to coordinate well with camera and the moment. You can't blame me really, I was just too enamored. But the bits and pieces that I have got etched in my memory is too beautiful and charming.
Not only have I found new places, new food (some of which proved to be quite treacherous actually and I ended up with a dodgy stomach for a few days), also met new people who made me introspect. Quite something won't you say? In these days and times when with information overload we think there is nothing much to surprise us I am quite refreshingly inspired. Will come to the inspiration bit a little later. May be in the next post.
At first, a little about to the places I went to. I have been to Jaipur several times and am actually quite familiar with the city now. But this time round Jaipur was only about crashing at night. Rest of the time I was on the road. Sanganer and Bagru are two places where hand block printing still exists. And I went deep into the alleys to meet the artisans in their work sheds and homes. Although it is very difficult for the layman to ascertain the difference between hand block printed and stenciled fabric, but I am slowly learning and getting. Genuinely I see the craft dying as demand for cheaper and larger volumes drive the markets. Markets is the king and we can do very little to safeguard the traditional art forms including hand-block printing. But try we must to such end. Condition of Bagru printers is not as good as their brethren in Sanganer - the Sanagner weavers are better paid and possess better market intelligence. Naturally leading to a bigger market share too.
I also got a chance to visit the Central Effluent Treatment Plant at Jaipur Integrated Textile Park Pvt Ltd. nearby which supports 20 export houses with their water recycling needs. About 90 percent of the water can be recycled in this facility. It has also introduced sustainable practices such as fair wages for the artisans.
Bassi is a poor cluster of weavers where khadi was woven for yardage traditionally. The practices are age old although you can spot dish antennas on the houses. The contrast that India is. The story of the loom was all about sustainable living. Where people used to weave their own clothing requirement at home. Then with growing royal armies they started weaving for the sipahis or soldiers under state patronage. Later on during Swadeshi movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi Khaadi weaving became synonymous with protest. Today the weavers are dependent on Khadi Gram Udyog for their daily upkeep and the wages are paltry. The weavers can no longer afford to use the khadi they spin.
The abject poverty hits you hard. The quaint ways of life tells you how far you are from your bustling metropolis. They need immediate government support for their betterment. People are warm and generous, it is at such times when I feel totally helpless. But it also makes me more resolved to strive.
More in the next post.
This March it rained with new places and experiences for me and how!! I have been so fortunate to have visited five new places at one go. That too in Rajasthan, quite the colorful state of India and it will actually take a life time to know. The desert like the mountains is very demanding. More so because of the amplifying weather conditions. The desert diversity is fascinating to say the least. I have soaked up the sights which I had only read or seen in movies earlier.
Like a passing clan of nomads walking the highway with their camels and et all! Or turbaned shepherds with their flocks. Unfortunately, I have no pictures because I was too busy experiencing it and could not manage to coordinate well with camera and the moment. You can't blame me really, I was just too enamored. But the bits and pieces that I have got etched in my memory is too beautiful and charming.
Not only have I found new places, new food (some of which proved to be quite treacherous actually and I ended up with a dodgy stomach for a few days), also met new people who made me introspect. Quite something won't you say? In these days and times when with information overload we think there is nothing much to surprise us I am quite refreshingly inspired. Will come to the inspiration bit a little later. May be in the next post.
At first, a little about to the places I went to. I have been to Jaipur several times and am actually quite familiar with the city now. But this time round Jaipur was only about crashing at night. Rest of the time I was on the road. Sanganer and Bagru are two places where hand block printing still exists. And I went deep into the alleys to meet the artisans in their work sheds and homes. Although it is very difficult for the layman to ascertain the difference between hand block printed and stenciled fabric, but I am slowly learning and getting. Genuinely I see the craft dying as demand for cheaper and larger volumes drive the markets. Markets is the king and we can do very little to safeguard the traditional art forms including hand-block printing. But try we must to such end. Condition of Bagru printers is not as good as their brethren in Sanganer - the Sanagner weavers are better paid and possess better market intelligence. Naturally leading to a bigger market share too.
I also got a chance to visit the Central Effluent Treatment Plant at Jaipur Integrated Textile Park Pvt Ltd. nearby which supports 20 export houses with their water recycling needs. About 90 percent of the water can be recycled in this facility. It has also introduced sustainable practices such as fair wages for the artisans.
Bassi is a poor cluster of weavers where khadi was woven for yardage traditionally. The practices are age old although you can spot dish antennas on the houses. The contrast that India is. The story of the loom was all about sustainable living. Where people used to weave their own clothing requirement at home. Then with growing royal armies they started weaving for the sipahis or soldiers under state patronage. Later on during Swadeshi movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi Khaadi weaving became synonymous with protest. Today the weavers are dependent on Khadi Gram Udyog for their daily upkeep and the wages are paltry. The weavers can no longer afford to use the khadi they spin.
The abject poverty hits you hard. The quaint ways of life tells you how far you are from your bustling metropolis. They need immediate government support for their betterment. People are warm and generous, it is at such times when I feel totally helpless. But it also makes me more resolved to strive.
More in the next post.
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