Numaish!

Every year Hyderabad is home to two wonderful exhibitions. The first, and the newer, is Shilparamam, which is an exclusively handloom and handicrafts exhibition that lasts only fifteen days. The day after it closes Numaish opens. Now numaish is not just an exhibition, it's an experience. It is the all-India industrial expo, and you can literally buy anything. Name it, they have it. It is a gold mine for things like nested little plastic boxes (Amma's favourite), silver jewellery (mine), chikan emboridery (everyone's), and tons of street food. It also has, appliances, land, cloth and clothing, shoes, a toy train, a funfair, every imaginable Chinese good known to man, every thing you could possibly need in a kitchen or a house...you get my drift. Usually we try to hit each exhibition twice, and numaish has even gotten three visits since it lasts for a month and a half. It's an insane experience, because by evening it is a mass of bodies all scrambling about. We always plan and go early, in the afternoon, and try and leave once it gets dark.

This time, we went really early, at 2pm. We found a parking space by the gate! We were so happy. When we emerged, at 8pm, we saw, to our horror, that the approach road was a sea of bodies. Seriously. And my poor lil car was floating in the distance! When we got to him, we had to back him out and turn him around, all the while enduring the insults and abuses hurled at us by the street vendors incensed by my temerity in parking there. Many many many adventures (all involving a press of bodies on every side of the car, and some involving reversing down a narrow lane lined with parked motorcycles while being passed by more motorcycles and unable to see most of the six children directing me), and forty-five minutes later we emerged and went home.

After soaking my feet for an hour, I was energised enough to contemplate my loot, and of course, since I had forgotten my camera, photograph it. Et voilà medames et messeuirs. Notice, if you please the row of chappals. Yes, I bought six pairs. Sigh. I've already worn two, in my defence!

This one I took to capture the textures: raw silk, chikan embroidery and bead work. The colours also, with the white sari and it's shadow embroidery; the gentle mango-milkshake yellow and the vivid red.







And this one I took for the lovely clashing jewellery, all of which clashes with the box.