PURI---a small ancient town in Orissa still has that ethnic Indian beauty....people still live in small bamboo huts with small doors, painted mud walls, lamps made out of clay pots. The place reminded me of 'malgudi days'. Narrow streets and bamboo huts are surrounded by banana and coconut trees.

Words fail to express the beauty of Bay of Bengal and engraved walls of temples. Realy, its beyond explaination. One can just see and admire the beauty!!!

Puri has witnessed the great Kalinga empire and wars of that period. Apart from the two world famous temples- Lord Jagannath and The Konark Sun temple, it has so many places that attract people. The Shanti stupa, lot many temples, caves, cashewnut trees, dolphins, red crabs, sea mouth, applique art, the beautiful sunrise, naariyal pani,,,,stone carving, animal and bird sancturies and the beautiful beaches....

The pattachitra

This is all that is shown to the tourists, but theres a lot more to observe and enjoy.....

the old man wearing lion cloth,

women wearing sari in varied styles.....
The way they eat food with hands,,,(enjoyed eating with hands)especially the tangi khota, imli and spicy dahi-bada!!! Sambalpuri sari, collecting shells, small samosas for one rupee......their language was very interesting!!! though i could not understand it, but i could catch some words like--- amma, khabo, eku taka, dosh, dhayi, dui taka, debo, mataji, pitaji, mishthi khabo, momo, motton, motor, vendi,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
one thing that was common in all the ethnic restraunts was that they had a long menu of dishes but no ingredients in their kitchen..they give a few common dishes like dal, rice, fish, soups n chapati,,,,.and for these items also one has to wait for at least an hour for their order.....!!!!! hahahaaha!!!
Another common thing found in Puri is 'the Panda'!!! Pandits are the karta-dharta!!!! They are so annoying,,,,,,they charge for everything,,, for putting a tikka on forehaed, for narrating the story of the temple, for prasad, for evrything that has to be done in a temple!!!!!!!!

Fisherman making fishing net

The red crab

Appliqué work of pipli

I experienced the ancient India that we used to study in history books,,,,,,,and enoyed to the fullest !!!!!

From e-media to e-textiles!!!!

Innovations proliferate at every phase of textile supply chain, from polymer production to final finished fabrics. The main drivers of change and innovation in textiles are the consumer demands for comfort, performance, safety and aesthetics. With the influence of advanced technology, electrconductive fibers have been incorporated in garments to protect the wearer from potentially harmful radiations.
In the recent years, there has been an upsurge in research activities for developing new polymers, fibers and fabrics with improved and enhanced properties. These materials are generally termed as “Smart Textile Materials”. Smart textiles tie the vision of scientists and textiles engineers with those of clothing physiologists and psychologists. A striking feature of these materials is the presence of certain degree of Stimuli Sensitive Polymers (S.S.P) that adapt and respond to changes in ph and temperature. These S.S.Ps have been used to develop a special category of smart textiles called as bio-textiles or e-textiles. These cover an enormous potential for the market of the “second skin” including clothing material, coatings, carpets, wall papers and other equipments.
With cell phones hanging off shoulder bag straps, pagers hooked to our belts, digital cameras dangling from our necks, PDAs bulging in our pockets and MP3 players clipped to shirts, all are beginning to look like electro gadget pack mules. For all these equipments, there is a more versatile and elegant alternative i.e. e-textiles. The shirts, coats, sweaters, carpets and even the wall papers are the device. Conductive fibers are woven into a fabric using the standard textile techniques that carry power to sensors, actuators and micro controllers embedded in the cloth. Software controls the communications inside the on-fabric network.
Application of such devices is astoundingly diverse. An army commander can monitor a platoon of soldiers clad in the smart shirt gear. The shirt communicates vital signs in real time and even when all the signals break on the battlefield, the commander still gets to see who has been hit, gravely injured and in need of immediate attention.
Closer to home, a fire chief could keep tabs on a unit as it enters a burning building. He could order his team out when the sensors they are wearing transmit data back to his command center telling him about the hazardous fumes and intensity of smoke at that place.
Safety enhancing grab has also been prototyped. A washable jacket, vest, trousers and two-piece under wear set for snowmobilers have been developed. The jacket is embedded with a GSM chip, sensors monitoring position, motion and temperature, and electric conductivity sensor and two accelerometers to sense impact. If a crash occurs, the jacket automatically detects it and sends a message to emergency medical officers via short messaging service. The message also conveys the local environmental conditions and data taken from heart monitor embedded in the under shirt.
A carpet can detect motion of unwanted intruders and also tight way to exits in the event of fire. Such a carpet is woven with conductive fibers and studded with pressure, temperature or vibration sensor chips and light emitting diodes (LEDs.) for those who cannot stand looking at the same décor day in and day out, there have come an electric-plaid wall papers. These wall papers slowly change colors and patterns as conductive fibers heat and then cool as threads are coated with thermal sensitive inks.
In this world of Information technology, mother boards are circuit boards that provide easily plug-in chips and processors for specific applications like graphics or wireless communications. Similarly, textile manufacturers can mix and match sensors, processors and communication devices that plug into knitted or woven garments made from cotton, polyester or blends. The garments are threaded with conductive polymers and metallic fibers that serve as data buses and power lines. These devices have the look and feel of garments and after the attachments are unplugged, the garments can be tossed into the washing machine. Such an e-textile shirt promises to put an end to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) by alerting parents he moment baby stops breathing, with sensors that monitor heart and respiration rates and body temperature. The shirt communicates wirelessly with parent’s PDA, watch or PC. Such a garment has tiny connectors called as T-connectors that measure 5mm in diameter. These are placed in the appropriate spots- over the heart and diaphragm.

All the cloths made of e-textiles can be worn, washed and torn. Carpets can be vaccumed, shampooed and trod upon. The e-textiles have been designed based on a fault-tolerant system that can cope with wear and tear. Smart textiles are widely used in medical and hygiene related products. Antimicrobial and odor preventing fabrics find wide applications in active wear and underwear fabrics. These e-textiles have already formed an integral part of our daily life as an “airbag” fabric in automobiles. The inflation/deflation mechanism of an airbag is a good example of sensible and intelligent response to mechanical shocks and vibrations.
These prototypes are a small of the vast variety of fibers and fabrics that can be woven into clothing, carpets, upholstery and wall coverings. Such e-textiles can constitute a platform for health monitoring, communications, multimedia devices and changing decors smart textiles are the foundation for a new fashion philosophy for the 21st century. Nevertheless, e-textiles are soon going to add functionality, fun and style in our attire. The new generation of textiles is so high-tech and smart that they take you into outer space, allow you to communicate and even save your life.

Jewellery-- then 'n' now

History repeats itself..... N so does the exotic jewellery designs!!!!!

The bead necklaces of Indus Valley, tilari, panchlari, satlari, kantha and karanphul of Mauryan period are widely worn by the women of 21st century as well....The most common jewel of the historic eras and 21st century is the holy dot on forehead.i.e. the bindi, sindoor, tikka or pottu.............The word 'bindi' is derived from sanskrit word 'bindu' or a dot. In northern parts of India, it has always been compulsory for married women to wear this jewel while in southern regions, it is mandatory for all the girls to wear it....Even men wear kumkum mark on their foreheads during traditional and holy ceremonies. Since historic times, the bride's as well as bridegroom's makeup is considered incomplete without tilak!!!

Another jewel that has been everyone's favorite in historic as well as present times is 'the jewel of the nose'. It is called nath in northren regions and mukkuththi in southern regions. It is assumed that muslims bought this jewel in India.

Jewellery is one of the passions of women and these days, with the influence of movies like JodhaAkbar, all the historic designs have been revived and are in fashion these days. Though artificial pearls have replaced suchcha moti, still beads and pearls are everyone's favorite. These days a wide variety of jewellery is available and each class of society can afford to have a royal feel by wearing the artificial jewellery having the popular historic patterns and designs............

So, the 21st century princess doesnot need to marry a prince to have royal, ethnic jewellery. All the ethnic designs and varieties are open for every rich as well as poor n they can relish the replica of royal Indian flavor of jewelery at low prices too!!!!

SUVASAS- the beautiful costumes!!!!

SARI- The Beautiful Indian Garment

Sari, for instance, the oldest Indian garment is a versatile cloth beacuse it could be worn as shorts, trousers, flowing gown-like or skirt-like. The word "sari" has been derived from the sanskrit words "Sati" and "chira", meaning "a wearable length of cloth". In ancient times both men and women used to wear sari. Styles of wearing Sari varied from region to region and as per the occupation of the wearer. In India, a sari is draped in around 10-15 differnt styles as per differnt states and religions. The fact that surprised me the most is that brave women like Rani Lakshmi Bai even fought battles with a sari draped on their body!!!! Inspite of its long length, it has never been cumbersome for working women. They could carry head load, waist load(child) and walk with ease.

Basically, a sari is divided into 3 parts-

• the longitudnal borders
• the end piece
• the field

Each part used to communicate about the status of a woman in her family and society. It could be turned into a working dress or a party-wear dress with different draping styles. A woman's ethnicity, class or caste backnground and the social norms usually influenced her choice of fabric, color and patern. These differences are still noticeable today. For instance, In North India a widow was expected to wear white sari while a bride used to select reds and maroons, the colors considered auspicious for joy and marital bliss and this tradition is still followed in maximum parts of northtern India........

Dhoti was the male counter part of sari. They used to wear colorful dhotis with brocaded borders in various styles. Being just an un-sewn cloth, it could be worn parted and tucked breech like for horse riding, swimming and other sports tight worn and short length for martial sports and battle. Men used to get an elegant appearance after draping the embroidered and fully pleated sari with big borders swayed as they walked majestically towards Durbar hall!!!

This is a brief history of sari......dunno where future will take this beautiful garment,,,,,coz today women wear it at formal occasions just to cover up the formal expectations of society!!!

But as it is said-"OLD IS GOLD" ,,,,the elegance and beauty of this garment is gonna remain forever..........!