Beautiful Cane Handicraft Of Assam

Apart from one horn rhino,mighty Bhramaputra river,Assam-silk,Bihu dance etc Assam is famous for its beautiful cane and bamboo handicrafts too.A large number of artisans are involved in making of cane and bamboo handicrafts .Assam's forest (mainlyNawgaon,Lakhimpur and North Cachar Hills) are richly stocked with various species of cane and bamboo.We have maximum resources for this ever growing industry comparable with Canada,Sweden,Norway and Finland.

                                  Last evening we visited one of our close friend Kapil (another dentist...we were batch-mates)......his younger brother Naveen owns this shop selling Cane Crafts.I just got greedy and asked him if i could take some pictures for my blogger friends..to which he readily agreed.Last time when we met he was into exporting  a lot of these stuffs to other countries ,it came as a surprise to us that now he is not .

They make many things like baskets of varying sizes, floor mats,table mats,table lamp,beer mugs,ladles,spoons,handbags,decorative piece,lamp shades,umbrella handles,walking sticks, key rings ,blinds etc Murrahs(stools) are very popular here ,you find them being used extensively in any Assamese household.

Handbags and Trays.A lot of fishing implements are also made but that is a big subject...i will try to write about it in future.

Naveen provided me this pic of a sofa set of export quality.

OUR FISH POND......AT VILLAGE

This post is dedicated to my best friend ROMITA(who is at present in Germany),....i have never come across a greater fish lover as her,my daughter GAURI comes next.
Its typical of many Assamese village houesholds to have their own fish pond.Rice and Fish are a big part of assamese diet.We have three fish ponds,one small and two bigger.The pic shown above is of my Jan trip to the village when one of the bigger  pond was emptied for cleaning.The picture shown below is of this May trip ,when pond was refilled .When monsoon is at peak this pond is completely filled.Once or twice in a week this net is used to catch the fish...we were late in reaching village so that part was already over...you can see the blue fish net being dried before storing.We have lots of lemon trees surrounding this pond,as we take a round we pluck lemon too...kids love this part a lot even though the trees have thorns.
Fish curry is ready already....these are meant specially for kids coz they prefer fried fish and the fish shown here has lesser fish bones.Row,Silver Carp,Grass Carp,Mrigala,Cheetal,Kurghi are few varities found in our pond.I am a vegetarian so i dont get to eat all these........ROMITA...wish you were there.

SILK MARK EXPO 2009.....GUWAHATI(ASSAM)

ONE OF MY VERY DEAR FRIEND ASKED ME TO JOIN HER  IN SHOPPING   ,SHE IS A DIE HARD SILK FAN...SO THIS EXPO WAS THE ULTIMATE CHOICE.The expo had all kind of pure silks,Assam silks,Mysore silks,Banglore silks,Pochampali silks,Kanjeevaram silks,Ikkat silks,Patolas,Bandhejas,Benaras brocades etc.It was organised by CSB(central silk board)govt. of India.The place was overcrowded and the response was much more than expected as all the products sold here were affixed with SILK MARK...to ensure the purity and quality of silk.
Everything was so beautiful ....i am glad that over the years i have mastered(almost) the art of appreciating such beautiful creations without getting tempted to buy them.While she was into this buying frenzy i stood near this stall wher they displayed varoius kinds of silk yarns.There were more than 30 35 stalls offering all from sarees,dress material,mekhela chadors,kids wear etc.If you click on pics to enlarge ,you can read all the labellings.
I clicked few pics from the place where i was standing...displayed here are some beautiful sarees.