A Ranntastic Safari!

Little Rann is a vast salt plain in the middle of (my now beloved) Gujarat which is the only home of the Indian Wild Ass or Khur.  These ancient equines live like Zebra on the fascinating 5000 square kilometer Rann keeping company with flamingos and wild cows!  Yes the Indian Nilgai (formerly known on this blog as the “wild cow”) resides here in great number and I have photographed the female of the species especially for Danny (who would love it here and take better photos!) and of course ...Mica the Finn!

Around the fringes of the not-so-Little Rann are fascinating largely livestock-herding villages where we were welcomed in to homes for chai, smiled a lot and dropped in on what I believe was a hair-cutting ceremony for a small boy dressed as Michael Jackson.  Odd as it was, by all accounts, the dancing was a rare treat to witness and my driver particularly rated the lady in the red sari…

(sorry, I waited 2.5 hours ...must rememeber

that this site does not upload videos

 no matter how hard I will it to)

In addition to the diverse wildlife and the huge domestic flocks/herds that this stark terrain supports; semi-nomadic groups set up villages on the flats during the dry months and workintensely as a team to produce container loads of bright-white salt from the ground water which is sold as far away as China.

On the salt flats we were invited for delicious and light black tea and I was particularly impressed by our host's pristine mud-floor kitchen which was just beside the satellite dish …they do everything from TV to mobiles using solar but still cook on open fires …you’ve got to love those Indian contrasts!

My super safaris were with Desert Coursers, an outfit that don’t half feed you well (probably the last thing I need right now!) out of their marvelous Camp Zainabad where I am staying in a luxury mud-built cottage complete with dressing room and Bathroom.  I am on my own here with the affable staff as their benevolent boss, Danraj is away with his family.  Despite this, Danraj has been calling to ensure all is well and I had a lovely evening with his horse, Dalmatian and pack of Salukis before sitting down to an engaging and relaxing conversation with his mum and her Labrador pups! …Thank you Danraj for your kindness and the dose of pets and parents which has diluted my pangs for home!

Huggable Handicraft

Kutch is the fascinating area of Gujarat where I am currently and it also happens to mean cuddle in Welsh (cwtch).  If I could throw my arms around any region of India it would be this one.  It’s like the rest of Gujarat but there is a depth of sincerity to the people here which is indescribable.  People seem to rub along very happily with less segregation than I have seen elsewhere between religions, tribes and social status.  In 2002 this fragile dessert region was devastated by a massive earthquake, perhaps the aftermath gave everyone a sense of solidarity or maybe it’s just too hot for animosity.

The little red taxi had all of its windows open on the way out to the villages today but all it did was spread the heat, fan-oven style, cooking me evenly from the toes up. In between my turns on the spit, I spent money on beautiful things.  Although today was mostly embroidery, it was a real treat to sip homemade lemonade whilst I watched the pit-loom weaver create high quality artisan craft on his beautifully traditional piece of kit.

...sneak preview

Textiletastic

Now I am not my mother’s daughter when it comes to patience with a needle but you don’t grow up in a family that runs a needlecraft business or with such a textile talented mother without it having an influence upon you.  An influence which makes my latest destination one hell of a place to spend money!!  Western Gujarat and in particular the Kutch region is a handicraft hotbed.  There are hundreds of different tribal and family groups here producing distinct and wonderful textile art which is sold directly by the artisans, through cooperatives, or traded in the Bazaar.

I deliberately held back from buying gifts in the knowledge that I would be coming to Kutch, so since arriving I have been fastidious in contributing to the local economy.  In fact Dr Ishmail Katri and family were probably delighted at the fact there are so many Berkin women to buy for as I cleaned him out of exquisite block printed silk earlier today!  Dr Ishmail is the head of a family who for 10 generations have been printing natural fabrics from all over India which are then generally exported or made up for premium retailers like FabIndia.  In fact, unbeknown to me previously, I have been wearing a couple of his fabrics since the wardrobe renewal I had to execute in FabIndia Mumbai (see fat bottomed girl post!!).

On the way back from my fascinating morning of block printing, I stopped at a house where the front room was dominated by a huge hand loom.  This was no lowly village abode though, this was a modest palace, a master Ikat weaver’s home.  Haramshi Maheshwari’s sarees start at around £100, typically retail between £200 and £400 and can reach the thousands of pounds where weddings are the order of the day.  Ikat is an amazing technique which I do recall writing at length about at University, however for you guys: they tie-dye the weft (goes across the width) yarn with a predefined pattern which is then woven into plain warp (goes length ways) yarns creating distinctive “aztec” looking designs.  Double Ikat (the next step up) is mind-blowingly detailed: both woven directions are pre-dyed to the chosen pattern and then by magic incredible designs slowly emerge from the back of the loom.  An Ikat saree wasn’t really on my shopping list and I really couldn’t afford another scarf having just stocked the Berkin Boutique (the basic two-colour ones started at £30) so in the end I was relieved to come away with a piece that will make a lovely table cloth …for a little stool. 

I am sat next to a big pile of carefully chosen gifts and exciting bits fabric and embroidery that I intend to play with when I get home.  The pile is already too big to carry to the post office but I am not going to think about that until I’m done!