Dilli Haat .
Mo
India
23rd Feb 2000
By Manish Kumar
Want to taste the momos from Nagaland? Or,
Sandesh
from Bengal? Better still, Makki ki roti
with sarson ka saag
from the Punjab or Utthapam from the South?
You do not
have to visit all these places. Simply
stroll around the
famous Dilli Haat in New Delhi, and get the
variegated
taste of India.
Not just the food, but handicrafts and
rural products from
across the country are available in this
market, promoted
by the government, but fashioned like a
mela (fair)
anywhere in rural India.
The place is near the historic Safdarjung
Tomb, and is
actually reclaimed land above an old drain,
now a
picturesque place for an ideal evening out.
Showcasing India’s unity in diversity, the
ethnic market has
graduated from a place offering peace and
quiet for the
students preparing for their exams to a
spot throbbing with
life and an ideal destination for dating
couples.
Buy a ticket for just five Rupees and you
can enter this
enchanting world, replete with traditional
performers doing
street-plays. You can spot the newly-weds
buying
bright-colored bedspreads and pillows from
Rajasthan to
add color to their home. Or the socialite
buying ferns to
add a touch of exclusivity to her drawing
room.
Yes, salwar-kameez and chunni are being
purchased
yonder by that group of giggling girls,
while the children are
screaming for the toys. The elderly have
come here to take
in the crisp air and generally to pass the
time of the day.
It is only appropriate that the food stalls
offering cuisine
from all the regions of the country are
located at the
farthest end. You have to cross the
platforms where
trinkets are being sold and the shops where
hand-woven
durries are available. Appropriate because
this
half-a-kilometer walk builds up the
appetite and the
window-shopping prepares you for the meal.
The bill does not leave a hole in your
pocket, either.
Dilli Haat is bubbling with enthusiasm and
activity
throughout the year and has emerged as one
of the most
important commercial centers of South
Delhi. The place is
open from 11.00 A.M. to 10.00 P.M., but
visitors start
coming well before it opens and there are
crowds thronging
there even at closing time.
There is adequate open space just in front
of the Haat,
providing ample space to sit.
The Dilli Haat provides additional
marketing outlets to the
genuine craftsmen from handicrafts and
handloom sectors
throughout the country in fortnightly
batches.
At any given time, there are some 100
craftsmen offering
their wares at the Dilli Haat in pucca
shops, exhibition halls,
platforms and open grounds. The food
section offers stalls
providing the typical food from 25 states.
Mo
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Simply The Best
Mandi House, the cultural nerve
center
23rd Feb 2000
By Anam Arsalan
Delhi can be called the cultural center of
India. And, Mandi
House can be called the cultural
nerve-center of Delhi,
forever bubbling with cultural activity, be
it a dance
performance or a play, an exhibition of
paintings or a film
festival, a photo exhibition or a cartoon
show.
At first I was a little disappointed on
finding the streets and
alleys of this area, and also the canteen
of the National
School of Drama a little deserted, but a
lot of loud music
was coming from one of the rooms. On
investigation I
found that the high decibel was emanating
from the Kathak
Center (Kathak Kendra) of the Sangeet Natak
Academy.
The enchanting music pulled towards the
room. There I
met Kavita, a student of Kathak, who was
practicing for
her forthcoming performance at Jodhpur
along with other
students under the guidance of their guru
Sh. Munna
Shukla. Kavita told me that they would be
carrying one
group item, two duets and a trio at
Jodhpur. Impressed, I
left the place to search for other cultural
pastures.
“Music concert from Austria” was another
interesting
subject, which caught my attention. On a
closer look, I
found the Indian Council for Cultural
Relations (ICCR) is
conducting this program on the 23rd of
February at Siri
Fort Auditorium, Delhi. Yes, this
auditorium is not located
in the Mandi House area, being in the Khel
Gaon a few
kilometers to the south. But, Mandi House
remains the
prime source for Khel Gaon activities.
SPIC MACAY (The society for promotion of
Indian
classical music and culture amongst youth)
is having a
festival –FEST 2000- at various colleges of
Delhi.
February 26 would witness a vocal by Ulhas
Kashalkar
and later TV Sankaranarayanan at IIT. On
the 28th
Bahauddin Dagar would play the Rudra Veena
for veena
lovers. If this interests you, you may go
through
spicmaca...@hotmail.com.
Those having interest in theater are not
left behind either as
Delhi offers a variety in terms of culture
to all.
The NSD (National School of Drama) along
with the
Sathiya Akademi is conducting a series of
plays from
February 24 to 28 at the Kamani Auditorium.
Some
interesting plays that will be staged here
are Inder Sabha,
which is Ammanat Lukhnavi’s play directed
by Mohan
Upreti, Aks Tamasha directed by Bhanu
Bharti and the Taj
Mahal Ka Tender directed by Chittaranjan
Tripathy. These
will be staged at Rabindra Bhawan and
Kamini
Auditorium, both in the Mandi House area.
Those having interest in literature can
feast their eyes on the
“Festival of Letters 2000”. On the February
23, there
would be a writers’ meet and three days
thereafter would
be devoted to a national seminar on the
state of Indian
Drama.
Lovers of good painting are not left high
and dry either.
They can check out the painting exhibition
of
Shuvaprasanna’s `Icons’ 2000 at the
Matighar, at the
nearby Indira Gandhi National Centre for
Arts, or visit
India Today’s art exhibition- Art Today a
stone’s throw
away in Connaught Place.
Mo
for Gujarati handicraft
23rd Feb 2000
By Rahul Verma
If you have time on your hands
in New
Delhi, take a stroll down the
State
Emporia Complex located on the
Baba
Kharak Singh Marg off
Connaught
Place, and you will have a
fulfilling
experience. “Gurjari”, the
emporia
showcasing Gujarat, is
arguably among
the most popular.
Located here are rows upon rows of
emporiums from all
states of the country, offering products
from the cultural
kaleidoscope that is India.
“Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”- the recent
Bollywood hit
projected Gujarat’s traditional heritage in
the best way.
Extensive shooting for the film in Gujarat
brought products
from the state further onto the limelight.
And, the Gujarati
trend seems to have taken the Indian
consumers by storm.
The film seems also to have vastly
increased the popularity
of Gujarati handicraft in the global
market. Amid the
traditional handicrafts of Gujarat, there
is so much color
and variety that the spellbound buyer is
tempted buy the
entire shop, which leads to much crowding.
Gurjari offers a wide range of famous
crafts such as- Sadu
Embroidery (Rs.250 onwards) Peiko
Embroidery
(Rs.1000), Dhebaria Embroidery (Rs.2000
onwards
depending on the size), Soof Embroidery
(now a days
found rarely), Moti-Kaam (rates depending
on the work
and size), Jat Embroidery (Rs.2500), Mukka
Embroidery
(Rs.800), Mutva Embroidery (Rs.1000), Devdi
Embroidery (Rs.500 to Rs.3000), Ahir
Embroidery (rates
depending on the size) Kharal carpets from
the Kutch
(Rs.6000 onwards), Ari Embroidery wall
hanging (Rs.125
to Rs.550)
Then there is the decorative Suff
Embroidery (Rs.250 to
Rs.15000), Woven Woollen Shawls known as
Morjali
(Rs.735 onwards), Shaurastra Embroidered
wall piece
(Rs.460 to Rs.1000), Cotton table piece
(Rs.460 to
Rs.1000), Ajrakh saris (Rs.375 onwards),
Ajrak dupatta
(Rs.114 to Rs.250), Ethnic jackets, pants,
and blouses,
leather work, brass work items, beed work,
toran, tribal
jewelry, wood work and a whole range of
Sankheda
furniture’s (Rs.6800 to Rs.15000), and
traditional
jharokhas (Rs.15000) .
Given the great interest in handicraft from
Gujarat, Gurjari
has no problems whatsoever in meeting the
sales targets.