India: Day Four

Day Four: the day I got married and saw wild peacocks.  Best day yet, for sure.

We started our day with a visit to Shravan Kummar, a designer with a studio in Hyderabad.  Shravan cares about traditional Indian design practices and works with master artisans to bring his visions to life.  We saw Pochampally ikat jackets, more sarees than I could count, natural dyed garments, and even sarees made with gold.  Shravan was SO kind and taught us about the different types of printed & painted textiles, resist dyeing techniques, and woven textiles.

His team wrapped many of us in designer and one-of-a-kind sarees plus had a live male model for us.  I had the good fortune of being hand selected by Shravan to get a bridal makeover.  I put on a beautiful choli (blouse) and skirt that is typical of a Northern Indian bride and a half saree was draped around me.  Next thing I knew, I had a bindi (the red dot between the eyebrows), they were trying to put on a nose chain (it kept slipping off), and I had a very handsome groom.  Our model, Vishal, was gracious enough to let me live out my (discovered in the moment) Bollywood dreams and we took some photos together where I am continuously laughing with excitement of being in such a stunning outfit with my fake groom.

After finishing at the studio and receiving beautiful scarves as gifts, we made our way around the corner to their embroidery facility.  The embroidery facility was extremely different from the spotless studio we were just in and all the embroiderers were men, which contrasts the all female embroiderers I saw on my trip to China.

From the embroidery studio we returned to our hotel and ate lunch before traveling to the National Institute of Rural Development's Natural Dyeing Unit.  This visit was life-changing.

At the NIRD's dye baths, we saw indigo being dyed, as well as a yellow and red, though they dye in all the colors above.  

Dr. Annapurna Mamidipudi hosted us at the facility and carried such an air of wisdom with her.  She told us how the dye baths were started and the challenge of relearning a craft.  The literature on natural dyes often were written by the British and did not account for the not-so-scientific knowledge needed to have a successful bath.

We had the opportunity to speak to those working the dye baths and it was such a great chance for them to ask us questions and for us to ask them questions.  While at the facility, we saw a peahen flying overhead, checking off the main thing on my India checklist.  Before leaving, we spotted four more in the surrounding area, but unfortunately I did not have my zoom lens for my camera with me and wasn't able to get any good pictures.

​I left the National Institute of Rural Development's Natural Dyeing Unit wanting to come back to get to know the workers more, even feeling like a documentary would be incredible.  I also really want to bring them to the United States to visit.  It was a great day!  Definitely one that will be difficult to beat!