I went to Gujari Market on Sunday down east of Ellis bridge. There were sooo many people, sooo many rickshaws. So many things for sale. It reminded me of “Portobello Road” from the movie “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.” Lots of clothes, religious articles, silver cookware, lots and lots of found objects like remote controls, tools. So many things! It was soo hot, too! Actually my roommate went earlier to film a movie for her project and ended up fainting! She’ll probably not appreciate me telling this…
Yay! I cooked daal for my roommates for dinner last night, all by myself! Haha I think it turned out well; I liked it anyway. This morning I went to visit a Fulbright alumni in planning here in Ahmedabad. This firm had designed the new campus for IIM and had also done these town planning schemes for the new development in Gandhinagar. It was really great to talk to her because I didn’t really understand how the planning worked, but she explained it very well and had some interesting ideas for my research.
So let me tell you about shopping about dress material because it is just so fun. I think you have to get used to it first though because in the US you are kind of left alone to find what you want. Here there are all these shops where everything is on shelves behind the counter and you have to ask for it. I think it takes up a lot less space though which would make sense in a densely populated country as this. But many times the clothes or dress material for salwar kameez, these outfits I’ve had sewn, are folded on shelves. So you go in and these guys just start pulling out different pieces for you to look at. I think from the way we are accustomed to, it’s a little daunting at first; we like to be left alone to find our own thing, but here even shopping is this social activity with all these interactions, and they try so hard to sell their wares to you. It turns out being so fun though if you just have fun with it. I wanted something teal, and they kept bringing out all these other colors, so finally I said I just wanted teal. Every once in awhile they’d bring a different color – they tried a white one, but I hate white - I think they thought it was funny that I only wanted teal. They kept saying, “very fancy” or “sombor colors” or “fancy hands” which meant the sleeves were a different material. I felt so bad for only buying one thing! But it’s so much fun seeing all the different designs and colors!
