It was our first day in Jaisalmer. We started our day with a mandatory visit to Golden fort. When in the land of fort, who would afford to miss it?
But what came in as a pure surprise was that the colourful shops which awaited us in the crowded lanes of Jaisalmer fort.
Just as we entered the fort , my friend pointed at something colourful hanging onto our left.
Allured by the beautiful embroidered masterpieces hanging all around the place, we went on to have a closer look of what it is.
On enquiring, the rosy cheek vendor standing near the displays, started explaining that these were Patch worked Wall Hangings made from old clothes bits.
Wow! Interesting way of recycling old clothes right?
On his insistence to have a look at the pieces inside his shop, we had a brief look at the pieces and proceeded to other shops in the fort.
Even after roaming half a day looking for similar kind of patch works, we couldn't find a better shop than the one we saw near the entrance.
We headed back again to the shop.
Place - The Shop near the fort entrance
There we were sitting in the shop and looking at the wall hangings the shop owner had started to show.
Patchworks are basically a collection of cloth bits interestingly hand stitched together.
He had been showing us different types of Patch works like Pakistani, Afghani, Gujarati, Kutchi, Rajasthani.
While Pakistani patch works had a royal touch as their works used more of Jardosi, Rajasthani works had an ethnic flair with more of embroidery.
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| Pakistani patchworks |
But Gujarati and Kutchi patch works had got artistic mirror works in them, which made them stand out of the lot. We were lost for choices looking at the authentic pieces.
Indeed a show of textile scrap art!
Peek behind the making of Patchworks
These shop owners teaming up with rural artisans, creates such beautiful master pieces of handicrafts like these.
Doing these patchworks are the livelihood for many women in the nearby villages, who aren't given proper education. Far from the hullaballoo, lives these authentic art forms, which are the livelihood of a community. It is sad that these communities who carry the legacy are least brought into limelight.
It is indeed a great revelation for us to know the livelihood of the locals.
Back to the Shop
When an elderly man was wrapping up the wall hangings we bought using cloth, I looked with reverence at the young man for the enthusiasm he had shown while presenting more than hundreds of pieces of patch worked wall hangings and bedsheets.
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| Packed intact in cloth bits |
I couldn't recollect a moment where he was exhausted. I went out to look for the name of the shop to mention in my blog. I couldn't find one.
Again I went inside to ask him.
"Can you tell me the name of your shop?"
My friend intervened to introduce me "She is a blogger and she writes about her travel experiences"
With a sheer lift of hope, the young man held out his card and asked us a genuine question "Ji how can I improve this business?"
He continued to say how a restaurant named "Jaisal Italy" which had started recently opposite to his shop, had been attracting more travelers after the lonely planet recommendation.
While I was suggesting him to start an insta account for better reach, I was surprised to see in his card that he already had an insta account "the_village_art_palace"
Again when we were suggesting him selling online, he mentioned two main constraints; First one being the shipping costs of the Bedsheets would be far more than the wall hangings' cost, because of it's heavy weight. And second one being the replication of same pieces shown online would be tough as these were made from old cloth bits.
We three nodded bearing in mind how he had analysed the setbacks of selling online.
Continued "Ji This business will be good during peak season(Nov to Mar), where travellers flock here for festivals. But during off season, I will be busy collecting raw materials from different villages and assigning patch works to be done for the next season."
It was great to know how a bunch of old cloth bits are converted to interesting wall hangings.
The Village Art Palace
You can find Pakistani Jhari work, Afghani work too in this shop. Perks of being near the border you see! His shop has even got 30 years old patch works. And he is also a supplier for Fab India.
I strongly recommend this shop for anyone looking for authentic pieces.
The story of this man impressed me enough to write it in my blog. Anyone having a better Business Model for helping him sell online?
You can either drop a comment or directly contact him too. Here's the photo of his card.
Have you ever met anyone interesting during your travels that you wanted to help them out in any way possible or who have impressed you enough to write about them in your blog?
Disclaimer - This write-up is truly from my own experience and not in collaboration with the shop.
