To the Border

So today the three non Indians of the group got official permission to be able to travel with Kaveri to Pugal an area of the border of India and Pakistan. It was delayed for two days with confusion of dates of permission after meeting the people in the office we sorted it out and  finally we had permission to all go! It was an early start to the day and we got into our jeep cab at 830 to start the journey. So back into the dessert roads we went the sun blazing. On the way we saw an Indian truck which had  been filled with bricks and had lopsidedly fallen at the side of the road It was a pretty Bizarre chaotic image, These roads were so narrow that when you saw two big trucks going in opposite directions it was like a catch 22 no one was going to get very far, later on we saw two of these trucks try to get past each other for a good ten minutes or so. Once again we saw ourselves flying past the hot dry landscapes of the Thar Dessert listening to some  Rajasthani beats & Bollywood, some of the danciest music of India it becomes hard to keep your feet still and your arms folded. As we reached the border we had to stop at a police station for an Permission check. After meeting the policemen the three of us showed our permission documents and passports. The building was very minimalist stone building it had the aesthetic of a simple but effective building. They ordered a police officer to accompany us just to make sure us foreigners of the group were looked after.  He turned out to be a very nice guy and told us all about his home in the area which was situated near a bird sanctuary he also explained to us about some of the troubles during the 1970's. When during a war people had had to decide which side of the border they would settle on splitting some communities apart.  The villages we visited had been settled there for a long time, their family and extended family living within close proximity in these villages. Many woman and men of these villages who seek to further their education or Job prospects travel to Bikaner to have the opportunity to do this.

The first Village we went to was 8AD, Mohan Lal's house and met all the woman Kaveri had met previously. They were all excited to meet us and showed us proudly their embroidery designs. They showed us first the embroidery they were doing on a Kurta for Rangsutra. They traced some of the shaps on it with chalk before embroidering it. They showed us their own embroidery designs Kaveri had seen previously they were Bright and elaborate, bright colour combinations like you've never seen. These are the Dowry bags they said they tried to sell them as a piece as well but said they couldn't find someone to pay the price for them as an artpiece. For these villages it would be hard to get exposure to the right markets for these hard grafted hand embroidered bags. we all fell in love with them. We also saw all the pieces they had made for weddings and their beadwork used for fan designs. They then showed us how they do their mirror work. The girl who demonstrated for us did it so fast and automatically as if the first thing she had done when born was pick up a needle and embroider. It was just another motion to her. We showed the girls the Mehendi that was designed for us by the teacher in the schools and christina showed them her elephant she had drawn on her arm herself with Henna paste she had bought from the market. The girls all found the fact it was an elephant really funny they took christinas scaf and embroidered her, her own elephant of thread the girl them wrote her name under it in English for her, Radha. Christina graciously thanked them for her new animal friend and we all said our goodbyes and waved to the brightly coloured smileing woman who had welcomed us into their homes and art.our policeman patiently waited around for us.

The next village we visited 7AD with Kishan Ji, some of the people staying in this village oversees the embroidery woman are doing in the rest of the villages and other villages around. We saw the finished embroidered garments we had seen in the previous villages ready for us to take away to the Rangsutra base. Unfortunately we didn't get to meet the whole family as there was a big wedding procession in another village that everyone was attending. They had asked Kevari to bring them sweets from Bikaner ( one of the things Bikaner is known for) so she gave them a box full. Their house was beautifully organised and adorned with photographs posters and decorations. They told kevari they had decorated for the rest of our first visit and Kevaris return. They made us some smokey chai and we saw more embroidery they had been working on. Beading embroidery is an intricate craft they showed us a range of examples of their beading work. Including a fully beaded bag pouch. The woman joked around and decided to put their Kohl eyeliner on Katherines eyes. With the pointed wooden stick to apply they get right up close to the eyeball to get the full eyeliner effect this came as a shock to Katherine and an amusement to them at her surprise of the application of it. Their Kohl containers were beatifully decorated with bells or beading. One of the girls at this village used to work in the Rangsutra base at Bikaner, she stayed with her brother but when he left she had no longer somewhere to stay so returned home. Everyone wanted to be in some pictures so we took some group photos in the hot dessert sun and again waved goodbye to the people and took the embroidered garments. as they ran after the jeep waving to us and the girl shouted to Kaveri asking her if she thought one day she should return and work at the Rangsutra Base.



The next village we visited was 2AD. Here we all for the first time met a group of woman with a lot of gumption. they were embroidering the same garments we had seen previously in another colour option. they described their work with the crafts as " These are our fields". They were happy to have work which gave them enough money and they could independently work on Inside in the cool. They said they were glad not to have to work on crops where they would be in the hot sun all day doing labour intensive work  straining on them. Another batch of  chai went round and we sat with the woman sipping away at at it and kaveri chatting and translateing as they sat and embroidered. A close group of woman  who had a lot of friendship and banter between them. You could see the strong bonds between them and how strong and independent they all were in this work and it seemed life in general. The elder three of the group joked with us about who we thought was the oldest and youngest. We got it wrong but managed not to offend anyone. the woman asked us about our country and joked with Kevari about her long skirt that she wasn't wearing layers under it. They were very familiar with us and had a good laugh. We met one of the ladies daughters that knew a little English she said she was making her study further as she didn't want her just to get marriage we all showed her our approval of this notion. Not in the way that we were trying to undermine the other woman's views of the importance of marriage  It was interesting to meet woman putting an emphasis on education over marriage as not many woman in the crafts villages have had this way of thinking, From our backgrounds we have learnt the value of education in getting ahead in life so would want to communicate this to the woman but never to offend or question the value they have on marriage. We stayed a bit longer enjoying the atmosphere and company of the woman we had met. and then we had a few more group photos and saw their collection of goats. our last stop was meeting a woman near 2AD that worked in teaching girls in the village to stitch and sew. she had a lovely old singer model of sewing machine she was also relative to one of the woman who work in the Rangsutra office Kavitha. The mother of the young boy and girl that always chat to us in the office. After meeting her and her family hearing about her teachings it was now time for us to drop off our policeman have one last permission check and drive back to Bikaner. It had been a very hot day so we were all feeling very tired but lucky to have had the experience. For the three non Indians of us it was an amazing experience to be allowed to travel to this area and  may never return so an honor to get the chance to visit these villages and meet these woman. we started our long journey back to Bikaner.