As unbelievable as it may seem, yesterday's shopping did not quelch our appetite for looking in more of Jaipur's attractive shops. We rejoined our guide, Kr. Vikram Singh Solanki, whose life story and heritage is worthy of an entirely separate blog entry. Suffice it to say that one of his uncles is the Maharajah of Bundi (one of Rajasthan's old feudal domains). Because Vikram's father was not the eldest son (that son would be the Prince) his father has the title of Thakur of Bundi, a title that Vikram will inherit one day. As part of Vikram's current responsibilities, he inaugurates "puri" or festivals, at the 35 villages making up his family's domain. "Kr." conveys his Thakur status.It's not interesting to detail our various shopping escapades except to note that we had all been looking forward to returning to ANDRAAB, a shop owned by two identical twin Kashmiri brothers (a photo of Moussa Andraab is included here). This is my favorite shop in Jaipur because of their exquisite Kashmir shawls. We left with multiple bags...
Another highlight of the day was finding an enamel pendant similar to something Ferris bought last year of Lord Krishna, or rather one of his many incarnations, SHREE NAT JI. It popped up completely unexpectedly. We stopped at a textile shop near the Jaipur Palace and I brushed several items off the glass countertop and immediately saw it. The shop owner, Subash, is an extremely knowledgeable and sophisticated antique dealer who specializes in exquisite antique textiles. We had stopped at this shop last year when we came to Jaipur with the Santa Fe Weaving Gallery. We were having a very pleasant conversation, looking at antique bandani and asking lots of questions about other textiles when at some point he made the sage comment "you know, contemporary is very temporary". Later, we must have been discussing bartering in India when he said "you know, I am not 100% honest". We thoroughly enjoyed Subash. He reminded me a wise Indian sage. I am thrilled to have found my Shree Nat Ji at last; it will be a treasured possession. I include a photo of me with Subash in todays post.
I'm suddenly out of time...we're headed off to Pushkar tomorrow so I will try to continue as soon as possible. I don't know how much email or blogging access we'll have but I'm sure that Cliff will move camels and elephants to get to an internet cafe.
Oh yes, as we passed a wedding palace last light, I GOT TO TOUCH AN ELEPHANT. Isn't he beautiful?
