Have you ever set on an expedition to explore the tiny little corners of your city… the corners bearing the window-sized shops which sell intricate hand-crafted products made by the very people who sell them? Don’t those products emanate an utterly beautiful feeling?

The Dastkar Exhibition is on in full swing opposite Jal Mahal, on the Amber Road, and will be so for the next 4 days.

Dastkar is a society which promotes craftspersons, artisans, and people of such kinds by providing them a platform to directly exhibit their craft sans intermediaries. Be it the hand-made fabrics, the brass handicrafts, the traditional-symbols-bearing wind chimes, or décor items made out of bottle gourds, the place has it all! And trust me, the products are mighty enough to confound you.

What caught my eye first were these multi-hued beaded neckpieces…

… and the multi-hued beaded jewelry boxes.

Anddd the multi-hued beaded sling bags. These were all from Ladakh!

I am knee-deep in the regret of not purchasing that bag!

In the adjacent stall was a plethora of brass handicrafts of all shapes and sizes.

Those of the shape of tuk-tuk and of the tiny shoes are my favorite!

These could be such creative new gift ideas for Diwali!

Anybody here who has an eye for hangings, or bells?

Or hanging bells, for that matter?

Next I met Rajendra Prajapat, an artisan who hails from Sawai Madhopur. He reminded me of the other Sawai-Madhopur based artisan who taught us, JWB girls, pottery.

Rajendra and his father make these products themselves out of chikni mitti and stone-powder, and they like to sell them in this original baked hue instead of coloring them.

I couldn’t resist picking up a piece or two and doing something that I’m not so good at – posing.

These, my friends, are wind chimes and decorative pieces made out of bamboo and bottle gourd.

Yes. Unbelievable, but true. Gift your friends and relatives some loky, this Diwali, and watch them make a surprise-stricken face just like this fish.

The exhibition also had few stalls displaying clothes. Some colorful…

… some not so colorful

… and some others of varied forms.

I was delightfully playing the tourist at the venue.

If you are a junk-jewelry-and-trinket lover like me, you will be drawn mystically towards stalls which had these…

And these.

Anyone here who fancies lamps?

My colleagues here at JWB went all gaga over them! 

Oh, and did I tell you that these lamps were made by mentally and physically disabled children?

Just as I was touring the place, I saw these two foreigners trying out or sifting through the hand-woven shawls. I don’t know why, but this brought a smile on my face.

Oh, oh! And while I’m at describing the exhibition, how can I omit showing you these amazing wall hangings made out of cloth? And they weren’t plain. These cloth-pieces were beautifully painted.

Not that you asked, but our Lady Boss grabbed quite some pieces from this stall.

These rolling pins aka belans will tempt even the anti-cooking beings to try their hands at cooking.

And this stall will take you back to your childhood.

Here’s why…

And last, but not the least, there was this woman from Jharkhand who makes candles and hand made soaps. I was snooping around at her stall.

If anything such as a shopping bone exists within humans, I have successfully tickled it! Haven’t I?

Let us know what you shopped from Dastkar!

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