Today we had another early start, leaving around 8:00am for a four hour journey to our next location Krishnanagar. Kolkata is quite not what i expected it is similar in a way to Bhuj that there are local markets on the side of the road but in the Kolkata they sell everything on the floor opposed to on top of the wooden carts. The clothing is quite interesting you have your men on bicycles in suits on their way to work. But there are also men who don’t wear tops and just wrap the cloth around there legs for pants in quite an interesting look. There are large block style buildings with a lot of tin sheds beside, its a very mixed class city.

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Before we reached our hotel, we visited a weaving hub in Phulia. We saw many artisans hard at work, hand weaving intricate designs in pit hand looms. Although it was similar to what we saw from master weaver, Kuphai in Ahmedabad, we were all still amazed. Phulia also had a couple of automatic looms operating. These looms were a lot noisier and faster than the hand looms we had only seen, which was very interesting to see for the first time. 

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During our time at the weaving hub, we also got the chance to have a look at their selection of vibrant azo-free dyed stools and yarns. We then headed to our hotel to rest after a couple of busy days. Tomorrow we plan to visit more crafts, where i hope that Kolkata can deliver what i am hoping to get such as some beautiful silk fabrics, some gifts and maybe a few clothes.

Our busy day started at 9:00 am, as we got ready to check out of our hotel, we had some breakfast. We had a very relaxed wait in the lobby with some excitement for the next part of our trip. I think i thought the East would be very beautiful and clean with a very modern vibe. Before heading to the airport we made a quick stop at Asal, Shreepal Shal’s store (we visited his store during our first week in Ahmedabad). I though i was going to buy this beautiful green fabric until i realised in wasn’t naturally dyed so unfortunately back on the shelf it went. The store also had scarves, cooper gift, oils and spices.

We then headed to the airport and said goodbye to our driver, Mr. Indra Singh, who has been driving us around Ahmedabad and Bhuj for the last 3 weeks. He has been a real treat ensuring we are well looked after with crossing the roads to get to the places we wish to visit. Also asking if there are places we would like to go that are local as he knows these areas well from being in and out of the city on tours. The bus we had was quite the luxury with plenty of leg space, curtains and feet rests.

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After 1h and 45 minutes we landed in Kolkata, jumped on another bus and got to our hotel around 20:30 pm. As traveling in the dark made it quite hard to get a feel for the city, but in the morning it will be exciting to see the local scenery on the bus as we go through the villages. It’s quite exciting to be going to the west of different cultures, food, clothing, animals and climate!

After a very rude awakening of 3am and quick run to bathroom to vomit each hour due to some dodgy dinner. Was not ideal due to a very long bus trip that was on the schedule for today not to mention a hot 37degrees it wasn’t ideal.

Due to feeling under the weather i sat out of the activities due to feeling very weak from having no energy and running a fever. However i have gathered information from other students from the activities that went on.

We made two stops along the way, firstly at Dhamadka Village where the Ajrakh Craft first began!  It was lovely to see where the family’s 7 generations of traditional block printing planted its roots. Before arriving to Dhamadka, we had only heard stories of the settlement from the brothers at Ajrakh (who we met last week) that had spoken about the family’s hard times with producing dye work whilst dealing with quality depletion in the river. We were able to see the new water filtration system, and a few unique techniques that this side of the family use to get their brilliant end result.

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After a few more hours on the road we arrived at the Patan Patola Museum in North Gujarat. This museum is unique as it is run by a family of Patola weavers that have been practicing this particular type of weaving for eleven generations. What makes Patola so incredible is the process of tying and dyeing the warp and weft threads before they are woven. This method allows each thread to perfectly align with its perpendicular warp thread, creating a beautiful and perfectly planned pattern.

Arriving back at the Le Grande Hotel in Ahmedabad at 9pm made for some quick goodbyes before off to bed. For our plane ride to Kolkatta and an early morning rise.

Since a few of us were under the weather only a small group of people who were feeling up to it went to a local museum in Bhuj.

The day started with heading to Prag Mahal Palace. This was our first time doing some sight seeing in central Bhuj as quite often we are visiting the more rural areas. The palace was quite beautiful being transformed in to a Museum was just quite sad that it wasn’t very well looked after. However this could be due to lack of funding.

Prag Mahal was breath taking – photos of the palace really do it no justice, the architecture is Italian, designed by Colonel Henry Saint Wilkins for Rao Pragmalji II. The Palace was finished in 1879 and took a total of 41 years to build.
Unfortunately, like many other buildings in the Kutch area, Prag Mahal suffered a lot of damage after the 2001 earthquake, much of this damage still visible with most of the palace closed down for safety precautions.

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The interior of the building was beautiful – yet very strange with Italian marble and sandstone from Rajasthan, broken chandeliers, classical statues and decaying taxidermy animals held together by duct tape.

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At 45 feet high, we braved our way up a very narrow staircase to the palace’s tallest tower, the view giving us our bearings of Bhuj, bringing us even closer to this awesome city that has been our home for so long now.

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Our driver, Mr.Indra Singh, couldn’t park the bus so we had to wander the streets of Bhuj in search of ice-cream and air-conditioning. It is really lovely to be able to walk through the city be greeted and welcomed by the locals curious what you are doing in there city. We were on the hunt for some snacks or for some ice cream to help stay cool in the heat. Always keeping your eyes peeled for cow patts and motorists.

On our way to the bus we got to stop and feed some local cows which were on the side of the road. Unaware and ignorant of their hunger we were soon swamped by many, all grasping for more. However it is said to bring good will to those who feed them so here is hoping!!

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After finding Mr.Indra Singh, we made our way back to the hotel for some well needed rest and more ice-cream. Tomorrow we set off at 7am for our trip back to Ahmedabad, a seven hour ride with many stops and things to see on our way, a 3pm nap is definitely needed.

We have finally reached the end of our time here in Bhuj and this place is definitely going to be missed by all. We have had the amazing pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people in this city whose influence and hospitality has been greatly appreciated and will be sadly missed by all of us.

Our first stop of the the day was in the village Sumrasar, in Bhuj, Kutch. This was to visit Anchal P. Bijlani’s leather hand craft store and workshop. He has been specialising in leather works for 20 years, as the skill set and craft for this work has been passed down through his family for three generations.

The leather is sourced from cows that are too old to produce any milk so they are killed for the hide, in Gujarati due to religion not many if any people eat meat so only the hide is of value. Or the other option is the cows have generally died a natural death, and are not being harmed purely for the purpose of creating leather products. Bijlani buys the cow hides from Ahmedabad where the production is done.

His shop was filled with so many beautiful products with natural browns and blacks to bright greens, pinks, blues and many other colour combinations. It is fair to say we were very spoilt for choice. All of the products are entirely hand sewn and cut. Anchal has trained other artisans in order to keep up with the demand. Including other artisans also introduces a greater variety of styles of products that can be sold, resulting in a wider market that can be reached. It is made sure that all products are kept up to a certain standard, even when not made by him personally.

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This a business that not only cares about where its resources coming from, but also cares about the livelihood of its workers, as Anchar makes sure that healthcare and education for the children of the families who work for him are provided. Like all the local businesses we have listed so far, it was incredibly gratifying to see and meet the people behind the business and learn about their principles.

We then went to see a man by the name of Naresh Siju. He, his Mother and Father and other family members treated us all to a home made lunch and showed us nothing but the warmest hospitality. As well as working with natural dyes, Naresh also strives to connect weavers and other artisans of various specialities who may not have the connections to get their work out into the public eye. He makes sure that these artisans know where to get their materials, and where to sell their products so that their exceptional skills are not unaccounted for.

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At his home, we had the opportunity to purchase hand spun and woven fabrics that had been naturally dyed. I feel very strong about using natural fabrics and dyes as we have caused enough harm to the planet, therefore i found some quite amazing light pink fabric in a hand spun yarns and mill woven fabric naturally dyed by Naresh himself. For the price we paid you couldn’t even imagine to come across anything close to this in New Zealand. I hope this is a connection i could keep for many years to come so i can continue to support the family and there great products.

Today was our last day at Ababil and it was also the day we would do a lot of dyeing to get the final result of all the different techniques of Bandhani, Shibori, and Clamping. My Bandhani was dry from the first lot of pomegrante dye i decided to leave the ties on so the resist area would be white, and add new ties so that this yellowy colour would remain. The next dye bath was onion skins which had been sitting for 2 days to really extract the colours as 750g off onion skins had been used.

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In the meantime i started on my shibori piece with getting the stencil of straight lines and dots printed on the fabric and using a very thick thread and a needle to create a resist my gathering the fabric very tightly.

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For clamping you use an origami like technique to fold the fabric to get the desired shapes. The fabric is folded lengthwise in 1/2 then 1/4 matching the edges. Water was poured on the fabric to help it fold better, ironing would also work, however water is a better option as it would also help the fabric to stick together. Before folding triangle shapes with the fabric. After the folding process, any shape you wanted to choose, such as a circle or triangle was placed on the folded fabric and then the clamp was used to hold it. It was important to add pressure and to make sure the clamp was on super tight, the area of the shape will then resist when being dyed.

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After all the dyeing processes were completed, we then hung our fabrics to be dried. Once the fabric was dried, we took out the ties for the bandhani and shibori and are every pleased with the results. Everyone had created unique, different and wonderful designs

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We then ended the day by heading off to Sulemans family home for some tea and fruit. The family greeted us with warm smiles and made us feel just at home. We thoroughly enjoyed the delicious fruit and sweets give to us. We are very thankful to Ababil for giving us such a great experience. We all enjoyed the workshop and learned so much.

Another day and back to Ababil we went for day 2 of 3. Today we would do a little more Bandhani and then we would dyeing our fabrics using the natural colour extracted from Pomegranate.

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Suleman demonstrated two techniques to dye the fabric with the pomegranate skin dye. In one method, a pre-mordant of alum was applied, and in the second the alum mordant was mixed directly with the dye. Mordant binds with the fabric and allows the dye to take hold better. Ideally with bandhani the mordant is applied before the knotting is done, to prevent the knots falling out. Adding the mordant to the dye bath directly speeds up the process, but might result in a weaker colour as the mordant binds directly to the dye without adhering to the fabric

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The food provided by Ababil is the best i have had so far it is just so tasty and full of hearty vegetables, to the extent the even sit there taking the peas out to make a curry. The hosting from the people so far has just been so loving.

Above us at lunch where we eat are these super cute bird houses, which are safe and out of the way any predators. Apparently it is a tradition to have these little hanging pots outside your house. Obviously i love it!

I do quite enjoy this process now that i have learnt the technique correctly however it is quite frustrating when learning as you feel like your fingers are too big to be doing such delicate little circles. The do offer an internship here which could be something I may look in to in the future.

After 5pm its time to head back to the hotel for another night.

An early start after having my beautiful homemade muesli for breakfast i was ready for the day! An hour on the bus to the Ababil facility. We were warmly greeted by father (Umarfaruqbai) and son (Suleman) who showed us around their second home and explained the history of the company which is now 7 generations old. The crafts that came with and the techniques of Bandhani, Shibori and Clamp resist dye.

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This style is mostly done by women with only 2-3% of men, outside the company there are 1,500 workers that work from home that will work on these pieces when they find time in their day normally 4-5hours.

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On this campus only relatives work here and all males. We were given 2 meters of Gajj Silk to try the three different techniques with to do as little or as much as your heart desires. The fabric is generally worked folded in half to eliminate the amount of work required; secured by a running stitch sew my hand. The print was transferred through tiny holes that followed the pattern, the holes are there to help the plant based thin liquid seep through on to the fabric.

Wow is all i can say, something that looks so simple yet is the most difficult this far! Bandhani is a very unique craft of Gujarat and is known for the unique style that requires such skill. We were given the tools necessary which included a finer poly-cotton thread, a small tube in which to place the thread to make the tying of the Bandhani easier, and a small ring with a blunt point used to help in collecting the fabric into a small bunch before tying.

The lady teaching us took 2 seconds to do these teeny tiny knots while it took me at least 3 times the time with a much larger knot. But with lots of practice comes perfect shall this be something i wish to pursue I’m not so sure about it, I will leave the experts to this one.

There really isn’t anything like listening to Chain by Fleetwood Mac on a half built motorway detouring on to a make shift road around a new half built bridge to make you feel like you could almost me back in Auckland. I think that having my own music to listen to on these long bus trips is something quite special it is almost like my little piece from home.

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Today was a restful day however it was greeted with some sadness as we knew that we would be leaving Khamir. The food has been the best we have had yet!! The hospitality has just been amazing, we were really opened with open arms at Khamir. We would be leaving behind the beautiful food and the freedom of being able to be outside and around the campus. Being greeted by the dogs as they were lazing around and soaking up the sunlight. Just having some nature outside your door was quite refreshing compared to the regular piles of trash.

I used my time today to catch up on some university work, as well as catching up with loved ones on social media. Before having to ensure a nice, tidy, organised suitcase as it is slowly but surely filling up with some goodies from India!

After lunch it was time to hit the road and back to the Ilark we went. During our quick drive we got to enjoy the scenery particularly Kumbhalgarh Fort which is the second largest wall in the world after China. Built over a period of 15 years under the expert supervision of the famed architect Mandan, Kumbhalgarh fort is perfectly perched between eleven peaks of the Aravalli ranges. This wall was built in the 15th century and is a great tourist attraction.

Arriving at the Ilark Hotel at 2:30pm we were able to unpack and relax before a busy week. The Hotel food isn’t that great pretty much everything is made with a cup of sugar – even the macaroni and cheese is more sweet then savory. Fair to say the food here is pretty strange but only 6 days till we fly to the east where we have heard the food is to die for! Anyways off to bed for an early night before another long week in Bhuj.

An early rise today as a 2 hour bus ride (only 60km) was ahead of us to the city of Mundra situated approximately 10km from the coast. Looking at the technique of block printing with wax as a resist. We were being taught by two bothers who own the company Rainbow Textiles.

Preparing the wet sand bed ensuring a smooth even surface, the wet sand helps to cool the wax and absorb the excess. Starting off with starch free fabric, you heat the block by rolling it in the wax to ensure an even heat is distributed. When the block is well heated you dip the block in to the hot wax and press on the fabric after 5 seconds and the wax is dry. Once the pattern is complete you can then dye the fabric in the shade desired. If the block pattern requires two different shades you can then print with wax again and the dye in another colour. The final step is to boil the fabric so that all the wax is removed reveling the final product.

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The had a great variety of fabrics in their shop however as many of us are looking for sustainable fabrics with natural dyes there was unfortunately only a very small selection to pick from. But they do custom prints so there is a backup option. But was a great experience to see a different way of printing on fabric with quite a unique cracked look to the fabric.

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