We headed back into old Jaipur to visit a bangle maker and to see a demonstration of his craft. Before that, we nipped into to a spice shop to stock up on perfect gifts and packets of spice mixes to encourage us to explore Indian cooking when we got home. Just off one of the vast crossroads, and under the colonnades, the shop was a wonderful riot of smells and colours and the owner encouraged sample before we bought. Needless to say we all bought far more than intended. All the shops we visited were packed with as much stock as can possibly be fitted into the space, which results in each being its own little Aladdin’s cave that spills out onto the pavement. And everywhere you look there are mopeds, tuk tuks and bicycles.
We then headed down and turned off the main road into a side street. As before, the shop fronts are all open to the street, wares on display, and a little down on the left hand side we arrived at the bangle maker. Sitting in the front of his shop, Aapno Maniyar, he demonstrated heating the natural resin, coloured to whatever we liked, and then after sizing our hands up by just holding them, he made us each a bespoke bangle.
Wherever we went in Jaipur there was something of interest to photograph. I was particularly taken by the lime and pink entrance to the flat across from the bangle maker, the tree in a beautiful old internal courtyard and the pan shop. And as always, there’s the people and traffic, which are nonstop wherever you look.
Text and images © Jonathan Dredge
Modern Eccentrics 