Retail Therapy in Jaipur

And so in Jaipur, Monday dawned without a breeze.  Kevin commented that he had rarely seen such a stable climate before; even, pleasant temperatures from day to day but nary a wind or drop of rain. True.

Nate had business to take care of with De Kulture music folks in the morning. The others, with Rajiv the driver, went out in search of history and Rajput palaces.  Reconvening at the Haveli for lunch, Nate found Mose in a lungi playing cricket. When he asked why, Mose replied that he had slipped into a stagnant pool of green muck at one of the palaces!  He has always loved Shrek but this level of play acting seemed a bit too much.

The afternoon of the day was spent in retail therapy. Jaipur is a city of many delights for the cashed up tourist and there was no way to do justice to them all, but Rajiv introduced the gang to a carpet cum textile outlet that provided plenty of delightful sights. A short, interesting demonstration of block work and camel hair carpet weaving were followed by a couple of hours of the wares and significant purchases for both families.

Mose, somewhat unexpectedly and unusually, spoke up at several points asking the salesman zingers like, “How many stitches are in an inch of that cloth?” and “Is that painted on gold or real gold?”

Detail of embroidered fabric

As the sun set, the kids relieved themselves of their excessive energy with a quick game of cricket as the adults sipped Kingfisher and double gins. Dinner and then to bed.