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The Making. Part 2. The Motherland.

Posted by Karishma Kasabia on December 09, 2011 0 Comments

The itinerary for two weeks:

Melbourne > Mumbai > Ahmedabad > Delhi > Ludhiana > Delhi > Ahmedabad > Calcutta > Melbourne

Meeks (M), my bestie was my best ever tag along. It happened by random when she said to me, "You going to India in October?" and I responded in affirmative. M also studied design with me back in high school, helped me refine the designs along the way and was my sound board when I complained about EVERYTHING in India. I often felt that I, the brown skinned Indian did more complaining than the white girl. Couldn't have done it without her or my in-laws. Funny that.  

This is the point when I casually drop the fact that my in-laws hand held me all along the way. V's mum (Mummy), a fashion designer in Ahmedabad, knew exactly where to get the quality of work I was looking for. And V's dad (Papa), is a dear guide who belongs to a lineage of business men in the fabric industry. I will elaborate more as I go along - so keep you eyes peeled for the unusual daughter-in-law who (most of the time) gets along with her in-laws and is doing business with them (oh dear god, we better make it damn good). 

When I arrived at my-inlaws home in Ahmedabad, I got a quick training session.

• Never ask questions about pricing. 
• Never say you like something a lot - just say "its ok". 
• If you're going to speak in English, its best not to speak. 
• Dress. Up. I look blingier than usual - don't lie, you love it. 

Ludhiana is the town for fabric. You can have fabric custom made to your particular stich or you can purchase in bulk. 
The real question is who you know. We had so much support from V's family, we were all offered coke (I wish you could have seen M's face crinkle. Her least preferred beverage being offered to her with such warm smiles of hospitality) and fed exhaustively (that is the only word that fits just right). Thankfully, Papa

After Ludhiana, we went to the famed of all markets, Chandini Chowk in Delhi. I've always been secretly infatuated with this market thanks to the Bollywood movie, K3G (please make it to 3:00 or you will snap out of it and thing, what the hell is this woman on about). Little did I know, we were going to be venturing out to a fair few markets like so. 

These markets are intense. Cars can't venture inside, you need to watch your bum and where you're walking at all times. 
Don't mistake the man sitting outside with his portable display stand. He has a business card and this is his spot, so if you need to re-order, he'll be there. 

I'm sorry - I probably shouldn't tell you this (especially on a luxe designer store) - but if you make to the markets, find your way to Parantha Gully and make sure you buy kulfi from there. 

From Delhi, we returned exhausted to Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is home to many good things, Gandhi, khadi, vegetarianism, Anuj Sharma, and unfortunately, its a dry state. Poor M & I. 

So we rushed over to Kolkata, which for some reason, I prefer when spelt Calcutta. Deemed the art city of India, Kolkata reeks. Its crazy filthy and you really have to want to be there to be there. Within our 3 days here, it was full time business, did I mention they conduct business meetings as late as 10pm at night? And no, this does not mean one can arise at 10am.

The meetings can be at your home or the suppliers home but never in a boardroom or in a cafe. Usually, we'd find a room within the home that was used for business and pleasure (how wrong) and there would be a low bed for seating. We'd always get chai and in the case of my aunt, mishti doi, which is a Kolkata speciality. Tastes way better than it looks. 

Mum had sourced 2 main suppliers, whose work was really good and we had them test their work on our sample cloth. They would also bring along samples of previous work so I could see the quality. 

There are so many different types of stitches, weaves, applique methods. Its bamboozling. To be honest, I didn't even know that what I wanted was a particular type. Mum loved telling people how particular I was. She would phrase it like so: "My daughter may be from overseas, but she certainly knows exactly what she wants. Even if you get the shade wrong, she's going to notice it and decline the sample". Joy. 

Finalising the colours and the threads = no joke. I couldn't easily match the colours we'd found in Melbourne, besides, I wanted to improve from that. The problem isn't in having too small a range. Its the opposite. 

There are stores. And. There are markets. True to being thorough, we did them both. Now before you go saying "All this is so easy, I could do it too...". I have one thing in retort. The stench. So ha. Besides, you don't want to sound like a naive fool in an art gallery do you?

Kolkata's Bada Bazaar is really huge. It has sections. The only way to find your way around is by asking vendors. Google maps I hear you pout. Pffftttt. Look down and keep to your left, or you'll have your Mum yelling at people who are inadvertently trying to run you over. I found the poverty a huge shock around the outskirts of the bazar - and I'm the one with professional blinkers, poor M, bless her dear soul. 

Crammed with people, rickshaws, bicycles, stalls and little shops, the Bada Bazaar is intimidating and at the same time, a hugely rewarding (did I just use that ugh phrase?) experience. Immediately thereafter, we cabbed it to Park St.

The sampling process can be painful. Especially if you have particular (read: anal) tendencies. The craftsmen created section samples for me and we'd work on refining them and perfecting the composition of the stitch, the sequin colour, the thread colour, the reverse side of the stitch and everything that lies in the blurred lines in between. 

So after all that awesomeness, I'm back in Melbourne and we've still got samples coming in every week. Did I mention that when a supplier says 2 weeks, they mean 4? Each shawl takes 7 days to be handmade. We send the base shawl from Ludhiana to Kolkata, it gets checked and approved in Ahmedabad before it comes to Melbourne.  

Click here to see The Making. Part 3. The Photoshoot.

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