Running For Fabric

Yesterday I spent the afternoon rummaging around Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk market for traditional Indian fabrics. That's a very difficult task I tell you. It was hot, steamy but fantastic. The cloth market is a labyrinth of tiny shops, selling over-the-top-embellished kurta fabrics from a vast range of polyesters in every colour combination imginable. The women's lanes are filled to the brim with women discussing styles and prices. In comparison the men's lanes are almost depression-inducing with the choice of grey trouser fabrics and almost an absence of people. (Almost, we're still in India).

Here's one of the shops, behind is a look through to the lane behind it.

After giving up in Chandni Chowk I kept my spirits high and took a ride around Connaught Place with some autorickshaws who were certain some of the commission-paying tourists shops would have what I was looking for. That of course didn't help, but today I was lucky enough to stumble across a brand of natural dye, hand printed fabrics and it turns out they have an exhibition and pop-up shop going on. It opened yesterday exactly in the place where I was driving frantically around to the tourist shops. Oh well, at least I know where to go tomorrow!