Asian Musings, January 2013

January 7, 2013

I arrived in Kolkata a bit bleary eyed on Monday morning to be met at the airport by the cheerful couple who oversees and helps design many of our cotton and cotton blend scarves. After squeezing my voluminous suitcase into the small car, we set off for a small village where the scarves are handwoven. The wife told me that each home in the village contained looms where all members of the families worked to produce the beautiful scarves we sell. I thought to myself that it might have been a bit of an exaggeration to say all homes contained looms and weavers, but it is true!! I have never seen anything like it. I was told there were over 1,000 looms in the village!

Here a woman is spinning thread onto cones that will be used for the weaving.

These are NOT ears of corn, but thread ready to be used for weaving.

Women weaving

Women weaving

  

Looms in one of the village homes

“Downtown” in the village. Note the lack of cars. The ancient trees add majesty to this old place where generations of weavers have worked.

January 8-11, 2013

Left Kolkata after looking at the new and incredibly designed samples my supplier had lining the walls of her studio – an Aladdin’s Cave for scarves – Stay tuned for some gorgeous new offerings coming off the looms! They will be available beginning of April. The following is a photo of one of our new spring/summer scarves (cotton/silk) – it’s a special type of weaving called “jamdani” where the colored thread is separately woven into the scarf and I have added pompoms.

Jamdani scarf with multi-colored pompoms

Flew to Jaipur where my good buddy Nina Nayar from Cochin joined me. As I drove to my hotel in Jaipur, I was astonished at the cleanness of the city. I hadn’t visited in almost 13 years and was greatly impressed at the how pristine the city is. Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan and is known for its stunning hand blocked prints as well as the other indigenous crafts.

Nina and I completely spoiled ourselves at The Gold Room at The Rambagh Palace for dinner – the food was superb even if we did lose many hours of sleep having indulged way beyond our dietary needs! In particular, a stunning amuse bouche – a tiny chickpea chip topped with pureed aloo topped with a few drops of tamarind impelled me to request the recipe.

January 9, 2013

Off we went in search of treasures, the first one being Nayika, a wonderful jewel of an emporium founded by Meenu Tholia of the family who owns the building of the same name. Meenu designs her exquisite quilted jackets, coats, tunics, blouses and selected home décor. From there we headed to Rasa, a wonderful store owned by Manish. We found the finest fabrics, in stunning contemporary block prints as well as solids – all done in fine cotton voile, blended silk/cotton and silk. Difficult to tear ourselves away from both places.

Determined to get as much done as possible, we headed to Anokhi where I purchased many handblocked cotton caftans both long and short – the most comfortable things you can wear on sultry summer days! They will be offered for sale on the website in early spring. Afterwards we headed to Soma and then Koila. Soma was a disappointment and Koila had some pretty things. Hot Pink, touted to be the hot spot in Jaipur for the latest in fashion, was also a disappointment for us – high fashion at high prices – maybe if we were 20 years old 6’6” tall maharanis!

Our saavy and charming Rajasthani driver Saini suggested we try Indiana for dinner  (so called as the owner spent time in Indiana in the US) and we were not disappointed.

January 10, 2013

So as not to have to cut short our time at our next stop, a shop that specializes in chikan work,  we headed there first. Located in the old city, a bevy of tiny shops makes up the “market”. Nestled next to a seller of bhandani work was the shop selling only chikan worked tunics. Chikan work, highly prized in India, originated and was made in Lucknow. I’ve been a great fan of this traditional embroidery for years, but could never find a reasonably priced source for it.  I’m happy to announce that ZAANHA will feature 4 styles of chikan work tunics in its spring/summer collection.  Not the greatest photos, but you can get an idea of what’s to come.

Chikan work tunic

Chikan work tunic

     

Exhausted and not having eaten since the morning, Nina introduced me to a restaurant serving Indian “small plates” (tapas). We feasted on a variety of items from different regions of India and ended with kulfi – a type of Indian ice cream – delicious!

Vanilla Bean Kulfi  (Indian Ice Cream)

8 Servings

5½  c. heavy cream

2 c. milk

1½ c. sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Pinch of salt

3 sprigs rosemary

½ tsp. rose water, or to taste

6 small oranges, preferably blood oranges

1.     In a large wide pot, bring cream and milk, ¾ c. sugar and vanilla bean to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until reduced by half, about 2 ½ hours. Stir in salt.

2.     Strain mixture and pour it into a 1 qt. Loaf pan or souffle’ dish. Cover with plastic and freeze until sold, about 4 hours.

3.     Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine remaining ¾ c. sugar with ½ c. water and rosemary. Simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Turn off heat and let infuse until syrup cools. Remove rosemary and stir in rose water.

4.     Peel oranges and cut into segments, removing white membranes. Toss oranges with rose water syrup.

5.     To serve, unmold kulfi and slice into 8 sections. Top with oranges and syrup.

January 11, 2013

ZAANHA is having its new website designed by an Indian firm located in Jaipur. I visited the company in the morning and gave Nina a chance to sleep in! This was the first chance I’ve had to personally see one of these large operations in action –- quite impressive! I’ll send out a notice when the new site is live.

Reluctantly leaving Jaipur in the afternoon, Nina and I flew to Delhi for an overnight.

January 12, 2013

Om, our new driver, collected me from the home of my good friend Benu Bharany (N.B. A trip to Delhi must include a stop at Benu’s husband’s family business, the legendary Bharany’s, a jewelry store that rivals any of the finest in the US. Now run by the 3^rd generation of Bharanys, one can also find exquisite early textiles and some artwork.)

Nina was in the car and we headed to Sonam Dubal’s atelier where I have bought gorgeous and very wearable jackets and tunics in the past. Sonam’s designs straddle both eastern and western sensibilities and have been very popular with ZAANHA customers. I’m delighted to report that we will have a collection of Sonam’s silk caftans and tunics for the fall.

And then on to our Kashmiri shawl contact from who takes traditional designs and has them hand block printed in Kashmir. The following is a design we’re considering for the fall – these are a blend of cashmere and silk (80/20) -- delicious to feel -- light and very soft.

Carnation design cashmere/silk shawl

Nina and I met Benu at Evergreen, an Indian “fast food” restaurant that I believe would be a runaway success in the US – one of my favorite places in Delhi.

And then off to the airport where I caught a flight to Kathmandu.

January 13, 2013 - January 15, 2013

Kathmandu is a MESS – most of the streets are being widened (which is a good thing), but the ensuing dust and myriad dirt roads is worse than Kabul!!

Street Scene Kathmandu

I met several new suppliers in the continuing quest to find interesting new designs, weaves and blends. We are planning to have a some new sweaters and ponchos for the fall. And, you’ve asked for men’s products -- we are considering a cashmere V-neck for men. Stay tuned. 

Woman finishing a cashmere sweater

One of our newer suppliers is doing some beautiful 100% linen scarves and we will have them for the spring/summer. They are also doing a lovely and fresh stripe made of cashmere and linen – very soft, light and perfect for the warmer weather.

Cashmere/linen scarf

New design for cashmere shawl -- taken from traditional Afghan hunting cloths made in Herat and called "chireh"

January 16, 2013

Left Kathmandu early this morning and took a flight from Delhi to Kabul. As we approached Kabul, I could feel the plane ascending. There was a major snowstorm and the pilot came on and announced we were diverting to Kandahar! I was terrified not knowing anyone and conjuring up myriad scenarios of what to do once I arrived in this unknown city. Kandahar is off limits for me --  many Taliban and with the potential to be very dangerous! I am catching up on the blog as we sit in the plane on the runway. The airline staff has been delightful as have my fellow passengers –we never left the plane and after sitting on the runway for 5 hours , we are now taking off. We landed safely in Kabul and as I walked through the twirling falling snow on the long road to meet Najib, my facilitator in Kabul, I felt safe, relived and very happy to have finally arrived!

It is very cold here! Central heating is a luxury that’s been newly installed in The Park Palace Guest House where I’m staying and unfortunately it wasn’t working. The little auxiliary heater the hotel provided gave little respite from the cold. Dressed in my fleece all-in-one + socks, I jumped into bed, buried myself under 2 down comforters and finally fell asleep.

January 17, 2013

Good Things Come From Feeling Cold

Awakening in my little womb-like nest, I gingerly got up, threw on pants, a couple of heavy sweaters and trotted over to the restaurant. Espying a wood stove, I hurried over to it and asked the man sitting alone at a table for 4 if I could sit at his table next to the heater. Very graciously, he invited me to join him. Of course, I didn’t intend to start talking to him and of course, we did start talking! Turns out he works with the Aga Khan Foundation (on my list to see in Kabul) and wanted to know about The ZAANHA Fund’s work in Afghanistan. I told him about our plan to start a business school for working street children who have graduated from high school. He found the idea intriguing and said he would discuss it with his senior management to see if we might get a small grant to get us started. Good Things DO Come From Feeling Cold!!

Najib arrived carrying a piping hot bolani, a crepe that is filled with spiced diced potatoes and then deep fried – DELICIOUS!

Fresh Bolanis -- UMMMM!! YUMMY!!!

We went to visit Nasima, maker of the beautiful silk scarves ZAANHA sells. Nasima is the manager is Zarif Design, a boutique selling stunning handmade jackets, coats and tunics. Stay tuned for Fall, 2013 and a small collection of tunic length jackets from Zarif!

Kathy Gunter, a ZAANHA Fund board member, arrived from Dubai. After settling in at the hotel, we went to the Herat Restaurant where Mohammed and Shukor joined us for dinner. Mohammed and Shukor are prominent Afghan businessmen who will be involved with the mentoring aspect of ZAANHA’s business school for working street children. Tomorrow morning we will meet with Merwais, owner of Rumi School who will help us with the academic side of the business school.