Kurtas

We got an earlier start and thus an earlier finish to our school work this morning so that enabled us to head downtown to pick up our kurtas (Indian style long shirts). They looked quite nice but when we tried them on, they were a little too tight and one set for the girls didn’t fit over their heads! Thankfully they had made them with extra fabric in the seams so they could be adjusted. They said to give them three hours and then come back.

After a delicious lunch and a visit to the post office we headed back to the store. It was not quite time yet so we had a look at some silk scarves and chatted with the store manager. India has been hit quite badly by the economic downturn. The US is a key trading partner and with the problems there, many of the software development jobs have disappeared or pay checks have been cut by 40%. The lack of good jobs has also meant less business for Mysore Silks and they have a lot of extra stock. People here live very close to the edge of poverty and these times have pushed many over that edge.

The second fitting went well and we were all happy with our new items. I didn’t find a scarf to match with my outfit and now I find myself constantly eyeing the fashions of the women of Mysore. We’ll see, but before the end of our stay here, I may just have to get a more casual cotton kurta. We’ll see...

We had our English class again at the school. The kids totally love to sing. They want more action songs. I’m going to have to search the Internet to find some old camp songs or something. This time we remembered to bring our camera and had a picture of the class. The best shot seems to be the one that we took when we suggested one with us all making silly faces!
CM