We visited the holy town of Rishikesh in the Himalayan foothills which is spiritually tranquil and also full of visiting tourists. It has popular adventure camps and is also one of the well known destinations for Yoga in India. Being a Hatha Yoga student, this was of particular interest. The relative coolness of the weather in the Himalayas was a welcome break from the 40deg C heat earlier. Rishikesh being a spiritual destination, the prayers in the evenings on the Ghats of the river are a must see, and very inspiring.
As the Royals visit the mountain Kingdom of Bhutan, it reminds us of an idyllic childhood spent for a while in the mountains in India, just on the other side in equally beautiful Arunachal Pradesh. The mountains we looked onto towards the west were the kingdom of Bhutan. The beauty of the mountains, pristine streams flowing through the valleys, children and people wearing Baku (traditional dress) all reminds us of the beauty of untouched nature we grew up with there which continues to inspire us.
Bhutan is well known for being a very friendly neighbour to India and we are pleased that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are visiting the country. It is naturally protected by the Himalayan moutons which form its boundary.
We recall the pretty traditional clothes and patterns that the locals wear which brightens the atmosphere up, despite the weather being increasingly cold with altitude. We also love the beautiful weaves that that the traditional shawls are made of. These are very special and as with all artisanal products, are handwoven and labour intensive.
We drank yaks milk, as there are no cows here and there is not a rickshaw to be seen. Single file traffic crawling up the mountains due to the incline is often in convoys and quite restricted. Hence our fascination for rickshaws, trucks and autos (tuk tuks) as we had never seen them in the mountains before. It used to take us all day to start from the plains all the way up to the high mountains where we lived in a beautiful valley high up in the mountains. This part of India is called Arunachal Pradesh, and this means ‘Land of the Rising Sun’. (All photos are courtesy of Arunachal Tourism and The Duke and Duchess’ photos are from Tatler.) The untouched beauty of the mountains was brought home by the Royal Tour, and we are pleased the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have experienced this part of the world as well.
Hopefully the Royal couple will go back inspired from the mountains as well. This is a nostalgic post, but tells you a little bit about some of our inspiration that derives from the Himalayan mountains.
We visited India in April and all credit is due to the team at Advent Custom Tours http://www.adventcustomtours.com who very kindly held our hand as we navigated the hot weather in Delhi at 37Degrees to high up in the Himalayan Mountains where it dipped to around 13-14Degrees, which of course was pretty normal given the weather in England! What with last minute flights and travel related issues, it was very handy to have a team that deals with tailor made travel to help us around.
Visiting the Production Team in Kashmir
It was lovely to be in Srinagar which is the capital of Kashmir and being nestled among the Pir Panjal and Zabarwan mountain ranges in the Himalayan mountains is quite magical. Srinagar is a valley in the foothills of these mountains and is well known for its beautiful Mughal Gardens and Houseboats, or ‘Shikharas’ on the beautiful Dal Lake. The view of these majestic mountains and their stunning peaks rising above and around the valley are an impressive sight to behold. The Mountain peaks Kotwal (14,211 feet)and Mahadev (18,013 feet) peaks, amongst others, are visible from the valley. The Mahadev is the backdrop of the Shalimar gardens which is rather stunning.
It is in Srinagar that we visited our production team which is focused on developing the traditional art of hand painting amongst the young women so that it provides them with a means of income, an aspect that is of firm importance to the development of Jasmine White products.
Handpainting is a traditional skill practiced by men, which is not unlike most other parts of India. At Jasmine White we are keen to ensure this skill is sustained and also provides an income stream to women who can work from home. As a first for our enterprise, our senior artisan Tareque is now training women to work on this skill from home, and where possible from a special ‘workshop’ for women.
Shalimar GardensJasmine Whites enamelware in production each piece being meticulously hand painted with Supriya on right side of the imageIndian lady Afroza working on Jasmine White hand painted decorations
Most of the artisans in our Srinagar production facility undertake the work at their homes around their families, and they work in their spare time or on a ‘project basis’ for the production unit.
We enjoyed our introduction to Kehva, a beautiful blend of cardamom and clove which is traditionally the ‘tea’ drunk in Kashmir. The beautiful gardens and the Dal Lake that makes up the city are very enticing. We have promised ourselves to go back for a Houseboat stay and also to further develop our ties with the magical hands that work on our beautiful products.
Then to Delhi
We also visited our production unit in Delhi which produces our textile products. We are pleased that the team that works on the Indian Street, Stars and Birds of Paradise ranges does not have any child employees or a ‘tea boy’ (typically a young boy who instead of being at school is found in offices all over the country serving teas) , and that all teas/coffees/soft drinks are made by the unit members themselves, or bought in by them.
We are satisfied that fair wages are paid at both our units and no sweat shops operate here.
It is these aspects that are the foundation of the Jasmine White brand and so with each product an integrity as well as beautiful craftsmanship can be assured.
Off to plan the next trip then …………………….
