So we awake in Jaipur to.....rain. Yes, we brought the weather with us. November turns out to be the wettest in the region for about 10 years.
Dressed in our finest for the evenings reception (another learning point for J&B - girls need to know in advance if they will have the opportunity to change or not before an event) we head out to Anokhi and the Museum of Hand Printing. Pioneers of hand block printing for the export market, Anokhi has, over the last 30 years, tried to balance skill and tradition. The collection is just beautiful and we even got the chance to see and try some block printing. And of course there was a shop.........oh - and some monkeys.
We then popped along to what turned out to be, for me, one of the most amazing experiences....Jal Tarang. A major restoration project in the middle of a lake (which was also part of the restoration project as it used to be a sewer), we had the privilege of visiting the palace before its completion. The scale of the work undertaken in such a short time was remarkable and it will be quite spectacular when finished. Another intriguing element was the level of future planning included when it came to the crafts involved. A lot of time was spent at the very start of the project designing bespoke pieces which would also provide future crafts merchandise for the shop. Not something we see a lot of back here. Oh and the best coffee served so far.
Bundled back into the taxis, and very soggy by now, we move on to Festival Foundation JVF to meet Faith Singh (one of many formidable leading ladies we meet) and Divya Bhatia. Divya was just back from Glasgow and had previously worked on the NVA Hidden gardens project. I think we all agreed that Judith won the prize for best purchase here.
On our way to the evenings reception hosted by Association of British Scholars at the City Palace, we escaped from the taxis and walked through the city. Beautifully set, the reception was well attended and despite the nerves, a few words were said to introduce the group.
Back to the hotel and a big welcome back to Siddartha who was intent on experiencing Scottish partying.....
No comments:
Post a Comment