Some Photos of our booth at the Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market July 2012

We just got back from a great show in Atlanta. Thanks to everyone who came and visited our booth! For everyone who missed the show, we will be in New York at the New York International Gift and Home Furnishings Market this August.

Here are some pictures of our Atlanta booth:

REFLECTIONS

                                                                    REFLECTIONS  

            

The Old City…..What we fondly refer to as the Old City is the literal translation from “Purana Shehar” an Urdu word. Urdu being the common language spoken in Hyderabad is a blend of Hindi, Persian and Arabic. I took a lot of things for granted having lived there. What visitors come to Hyderabad for are its cuisine, its quaint culture, the architecture, the exquisite jewelry, and not to mention the labyrinthine bazaars where one can find the most garish and the most devine objects de arte, antiques, textiles, bangles and beads. Interspersed with the street foods, gastronomic surprises, the experience is one that will leave you fearless of jostling crowds, narrow endless streets, unidentifiable foods and  wondering if your stomach will be able to withstand their onslaught.  It is up to the explorer’s sense of adventure and level of endurance that might determine how long one actually lasts or whether one wants to ever come back again.

Several times a week I find myself in the Old City, the area is generally referred to as Charminar which actually refers to a landmark structure that was built 450 years ago by the Qutub Shahi rulers who ruled Hyderabad for many centuries. It is a magnificent monument of Islamic and Indo Sarscenic  architecture. Invariably many times a week I visit the Old City to look for trims, laces and buttons or to see some of our talented karigars or artisans who painstakingly hand embroider our fabrics that are made into home furnishings or incorporated into our fashion collections. It is a test of my will power as I pass by the textiles dealers who have collections of rare and antique textiles. I have gone into those shops to “just look” and have left hours later with a big hole in my pocket. The owners are master salesmen who will entice you with “masala chai” and other delectable eats while they open their closets that are filled with piles of beautifully woven silks and exquisitely embroidered cottons. Any one who has been to India will tell you that no business is done….without the many courses of tea. And similarily anyone who has worked with textiles will tell you that once one has acquired antique textiles or has worked with any kind of textiles, it becomes an addiction that is very hard to control or manage……I am always on a quest to find that one rare weaving or motif that I have read about and when I find it then there is no turning back…I will have found a dozen reasons as to why I should acquire a particular piece and have it in my ever growing pile of textiles from all over the world. As much as I complain, I secretly cherish these masterpieces of woven magic…I have many a time taken them off the shelves and have stroked their softness and breathed in their smells that have transported me back in time...thinking of the people that they adorned or the festivities that they brought life to. These textiles have been an endless source of inspiration and I have used them to accent the clothes and furnishing that I design, mixing textures, patterns and Circas that add an element of surprise and a layering to my work. My trips to the Old City are a heady mixture of contented exhaustion and wonder as I observe from the car, the delicate balance of the crazy traffic, pedestrians, sugarcanejuics wallas, women in burkhas, incense vendors, carts of fruits and  stainless kitchen products, strings of shoes and I can go on and on…..all this against the setting sun, an ending of a day and the muezzin’s call for prayers.

-Viji Reddy