Tuesday 2nd December (JOURNEY TO JAIPUR)

Well I’m blogging this on the 4th Dec while I’m on the train from Delhi to Jaipur, it’s a 4 and half hour trip, and we have been up since 4am after having arriving back at the hotel at 12pm from days of back to back business meetings, I’ve not had one spare min to blog or check emails, this is the longest I’ve ever been away from technology and the longest and most informative and inspiring days I have ever experienced!!!, but hay we shouldn’t complain, even tho its hard work sometimes, as we are living the life here, we are being introduced to the most amazing fashion people. I have to keep constantly pinching myself, I can’t believe it, it’s a dream. I’ve never met a more nicer and polite sector of people than here in India, their hospitality has exceeded all that I could of ever imagined.

So anyway back to the train, we are in the lushest carriage I’ve ever been in, but hay, that also isn’t hard as I’ve never travelled first class, only squashed up on un-spacious English trains. This train has massive swing back seats; I mean I can stretch my legs for England, well sorta, hehe. The train hasn’t all been nice though as after paying some men to carry our suitcases on their head!! Yes my big phat overweight one!!! This was utterly amazing to see, all our suitcases on these men’s heads!

The train journey is nearly over now we will be arriving at a new luxury hotel and then promptly setting off to visit the gem palace, yes the BLING palace which has zillions of sparkling gems, hmmm I know my magpie eye will come out but at least if I get anything it won’t take up any space in my suitcase, coz I could wear it, couldn’t I????? (great logic sissy) hehe.

So now I need to try and remember what’s been going on for the last 2 days,there has been so much, I hope I can explain most of it to you, so here goes... a whistle-stop type-tour of my Indian whirl-wind life.
So the first meeting on Tuesday (DAY2) was with David Abraham one of India’s most respected design resources for fashion and accessories as well as textile products for the home. He was so laid back and told us about how he started from small humble beings, selling scarf’s to a shop in England as that’s all the Indian people at the time could make, scaled down versions of saris. He ended up getting a contact with the Terrence Conran shop in London and the rest is well history, he now heads a very successful company employing a vast array of skilled crafts men.

So then off to a meeting that wasn’t meant to happen as we had been lined up to meet someone else but he couldn’t make it, so instead we met a young entrepreneur called Sanchit Mehra. Who runs an Indian bridal wear manufacturing company called Sarita Couture House. The stuff he was showing us was amazing, jewelled and embellished fabrics that have taken days and days or even weeks and weeks to make all by hand! I was oozzzing over them, I so want a jewelled wedding dress now, (but don’t worry rich I will get you a good deal...lol)!!!
He mentioned that he really wants to break into the UK fashion market and collaborate with UK designers to produce a UK ready fashion collection. I am seriously interested in this possibility and discussed it further with him over dinner that evening, Or I could even provide a platform to open up links with UK designers to come in to contact with this amazing craft and utilise his services. Anything seams possible on this trip the fashion world seems like my oyster again, now that’s exciting, really exciting, new crafts and age old techniques, I want to soak up the whole of the Indian skill base as well as their amazing and vibrate culture

(DAY 2) We ate lunch outside in the most beautiful Italian place, the menus here are to die for nearly all vegetarian food, I’m in heaven, the meat section is so so small on the menu, my tummy is constantly full and bloated, how am I to resist the biggest choice I have ever had and will probably ever have, hehehe

So on to our 3rd meeting on (DAY 2) we went to a type of artists hub, where we met an up and coming textile weaver, he has a free space there and employs two highly skilled weavers who painstakingly sit for hours n hours weaving amazing fabrics by hand on an old traditional loom, It was so amazing to see!!! We also got introduced to this English guy called Mike who owns the whole place, he employs local crafts people to hand make cutting edge designer furniture which he then exports all over the world to high class shops, it was unreal to see how much the designer furniture that we buy in England for grand’s n grand’s is actually costing to make, a tiny fraction of the price for eg an amazing shaped chair that sells £150 plus import duty to a shop or buyer, will sell on the market for £1.500, unreal!!! I so can’t wait till I have my own place I’m so decking it out with hand made things from India.
I told him about me, my business and my idea and he was so enthusiastic about it as he is also running a type of co-op business that supports local crafts men and pays them a fair wage. Plus he loved my accent, he hadn’t heard it for so long, he was saying just speak to me, well funny. So it’s a must I contact him, he even offered to put me up and introduce me to some people who can help especially his wife who has loads of contacts in my field. Seriously the people here are so very friendly and want to help so much, it’s so humbling and exciting to experience.
So back to (DAY 4) god its only day four, It seems like we have been here for well over a week, we so haven’t stopped I’ve never in all my life experienced this much intenseness its been a little too much at times, so tiring for us all, but we have all just had to just rise above it and survive on a few hours sleep as I would hate to miss anything as its all so amazing. I will pop in day 3 tomorrow on my way to Mumbia.... bear with me, as I ought to get the rest of today out of my head while it’s still fresh!
So off the train we get and we had some food left so myself and Kerry decided to take it off the train as not to waste it and give it to the first street person we seen, so as soon as we came out of the door there was this man on the floor who was basically a skeleton all frail like you saw on the telly when the plight of Ethiopia was brought to us, one of his legs was screwed in to a metal frame all sore and decrepitated, it was sooooooo sad, my heart sunk!!! It’s so sad remembering it now, so I gave him the food, to which he gave me the biggest smile and instantly started rummaging in the bag eating the food so fast, I do need to put these things in my blog too as these are a common part of India and the things that are now inspiring me to make my business and many new ideas work, I want to offer help and support no matter how small.

So off to our hotel we went, a quick 20 minutes change as it’s about 28 – 30 degrees here!!! Ha and it’s snowing in some places in England so I’ve heard (question for whoever is reading this, “can you see your breath in the morning” hehe I reckon you can...lol
So off to THE GEM PALACE!!!!!!!!!! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, (right I will stop now) it was amazing all shiny and sparkly!! He showed us the most amazing vintage jewellery the detail and workmanship was unreal! There were dozens of glass cabinets full up with trays of jewels, my eyes where darting from stone to stone, she even gave me a posh tray to put all that I wanted on, well “my wish list ha” so off I went for about an hour trying things on, trying to concentrate on getting some prezzys for people and not all for me, but erm ... I had a splurge, but it would have cost well more in England, seriously. I bought a 22 carat gold hand polished and crafted pendent with a 22 caret necklace to match and some more little bits, but I will leave it at that, you can see them when I get back, but hay I LOVE THEM so much, I love the workmanship that has gone in to them, I will soooooo treasure them forever.

So off for a posh lunch again to experience yet more amazing vedgie food!! Then we visited a little store that stocked amazing hand made products from all over the region he told us how he co-designs with the craftsmen and provides a place for them to sell their beautifully crafted products.
Then on to the National institute of design where young people are being trained in the old hand craft skills, I gave a presentation and a few people where really interested and pulled me aside to offer me yet more contacts and even asked me to stay another day or so to be introduced to people who would defiantly be able to help me. One of the guys had even been working with street children and put a video together of their plight, he was teacher who teaches young people he explained that it was dear to his heart to be educating the young, I am definitely going to go back to meet him again and spend some time learning from him.
I had a glory moment in this meeting, I now want to spend some time in India learning about the crafts and building up networks in order to teach people back in England, in schools, collages and universities about these amazing age-old techniques and skills, as well as putting them directly in touch with these groups of people so they can collaborate and utilise there skills providing the Indian trades people with an outlet and fair wage for their beautiful and intricate work. Imaging being a degree student and having access to use the whole range of skills and talents I have seen so far, it would be so out of this world, while promoting the handicraft of the Indian people. This is a new level for me now, a fresh new opening, the extremities it could reach and good it could do for all concerned are endless. I could even work with this guy to put a film together about these traditional methods and the Indian fashion industry to enlighten all creative people in the UK and Europe who would never have this amazing opportunity to experience what I am, I could even aid and facilitate placements to learn from the masters themselves.. “BIG THANK YOUS TO THE BRITISH COUNCIL” you have started my mind a spinning and it feels so good!! Thank you ever so much for giving me this amazing opportunity and having faith in my entrepreneurial abilities.
So on to an unexpected impromptu meeting with a hand bloc printing company, where we saw how the painstaking technique works and the design possibilities that could be achieved, oh my god I’m now hooked, I so want learn all the skills and transfer this knowledge base back to the UK!! I asked the lady if I could come stay for a while to learn the technique and she said it would be a pleasure, as she believes in passing on skills and has been a teacher for many years off her life, ahhhhhhh I’m blow away, I want to start looking at coming back as soon as I get back home, I so mean that, my world has opened up in to a vast creative cavern and my design spark has been re-ignited and I can see it never ever going out again as there is eons and eons of stuff to learn and then to pass to fellow creative’s well in to infinity and beyond!!

Phew I’ve been typing for ages n ages, I have to sleep now as its 11pm here and we are up at 5am to go and catch a plane, yeah look at me Miss creative entrepreneur jet setter, im loving it. oh and I’m learning to speak Hindu too, I know how to say hello “ namaste” you also put your hands together as you say it, plus I can say thank you too “Shukriyah”, well I think it is really bad not to try and immerse oneself in to the country you are visiting and make the effort to pick up a little of the lingo, plus I best start learning more as like I said I’m defiantly coming back for a longer period of time and that’s for sure...
Hugs to England family and friends, oh and a big HUG for my rich x