Embroidery

Lucknow is famous for its embroidery: Chikan kari. In the evening Prattima took the whole group to some shops selling clothes or fabric with such embroidery.
When you enter the shop, you are offered to seat on a chair in front of a very big mattress. On there are sitting 1-2 men who take care to show you all what they have so you can choose. Given we had no clue where to start, they showed us half of their selection. To be fair these were amazing pieces of work. I cannot imagine how many hours of work it represents to get one sari done. You have 2 options: either buy the fabric to make a saree (which of course you can get done overnight if needed) or buy already made shirts. We went for the later as unfortunately 1) I don’t know any Indian tailor back home and 2) let’s face it, when will I ever wear such an outfit. So as a good shopping girl I bought 5 tops and 2 stoles (for less than 30 euros). I am very pleased with my choice.
Can’t wait to be in Mumbai, as Joanna keeps saying shopping there is great. Let’s see.