I Bought Too Many Scarves! (And Other Things that Happened on my Hyderabad Trip)

“Oh, you are buying this for your mama? I’ll give you the ‘mama special.’ When someone buys for their mama, I always give them a good deal.”

The man smiled as he unfolded a beautiful, white, pure cashmere scarf lined with intricate mangos and flowers embroidered in pink and blue. “Only 2000 rupees.” (That’s equivalent to $30.)

---

 

Let’s take a few steps back.

Several weeks ago, I met Leela, a researcher in entomology, during teatime. Even though I was not in her department, she offered to take me on a trip to Hyderabad (a large city in the neighboring state Telangana) to show me more of India. I was shocked by her generosity and eagerly said yes.

Having ordered the tickets over a week in advance, we boarded the train for Hyderabad on Friday at midnight. Surprisingly, I slept well on the top bunk of the “moving motel” and woke up 7 hours later in Telangana. Sometime after 9:00 A.M., we arrived in Hyderabad, tired but feeling well.

Immediately, we got a cab to Leela’s mother’s home for breakfast and a wash. As I ate the delicious peanut butter, honey, banana sandwich Leela had made, my grogginess wore off and I was ready to start the day.

Because two other Borlaug-Ryan Interns (Kayla and Alyssa) are stationed in Hyderabad, visiting their campus was our first stop. Dressed in matching white tshirts, Kayla and Allyssa gave me a tour of their work places and a summary of their projects.

After a lunch in the facility’s canteen, Leela, Alyssa, Kayla, and I piled into a cab to visit Shilparamam, a village that specializes in preserving the traditional arts and crafts of India.

Me, Alyssa, and Kayla

 

Under a perfectly cloudy sky, we began our hunt for the perfect souvenirs to bring home.

Every path in Shilparamam was lined with shops carefully guarded by eager salesmen and overflowing with carvings, purses, toys, furniture, jewelery, saris, scarves, pottery and so much more.

Giant Elephant Statue

Behind us, a festive type of transportation

Impressed by a row of colorful skirts, we made our first stop at a clothing shop. As Kayla picked a long wrap-around skirt, she inquired, “How much?”

When the shopkeeper told her the price, her face dramatically dropped. “Too much,” she lamented. As the man tried to offer a slightly lower price, she insisted, “Too much.”

“Oh yeah,” I thought, “I almost forgot about bargaining.”

Taking the offensive, Kayla offered to pay half of the price. After initially protesting, the shopkeeper agreed and all three girls walked away with Indian wrap-around skirts.

So we continued in this manner throughout the entire village. Until we got to the scarf shop…

Before I had left for India, I had stared at my mountain of scarves at home and promised myself that I would not buy scarves in India. I had too many already!

But when we sat down surrounded by the most beautiful scarves made of silk and cashmere, I caved. As the extremely polite salesman continued to pull more scarves out of the shelves and spread them in front of us, I had to have one, or two, or three.

Finally, after a long search for our favorite colors, we all walked away with authentic Indian scarves and lighter wallets.

We wrapped up our visit with a few more purchases and a quick glance at a traditional Indian dance before headed back to Hyderabad.

Young dancers wait with their moms.

After seeing Kayla and Alyssa back to their facility, Leela and I stopped for a delicious supper at Subway. Exhausted from the night before, we both headed for early bedtimes.

The next day came with a breakfast of banana bread, fruit, and smooth Indian chai followed by a lazy morning. In the afternoon, we ventured out to shop for groceries at a typical vegetable market.

Vegetable Market

Sending our purchases home with Leela’s brother-in-law, we hailed a rickshaw to take us to Hussain Sagar, one of the largest man-made lakes in India. With the lake breeze whipping through my hair, I was reminded of all of the wonderful memories I have of my family and friends at the lakes back home.

Just like Minnesota, except for the palm trees

I did not have long to reminisce because we needed to be at the train station before 6:00. Somehow, I managed to fit all of my purchases into my suitcase. Packing pasta and yogurt for supper, Leela and I said one final goodbye to her family before heading to the station.

---

I have only 6 days left in India! I cannot believe how quickly the time has flown by, and I already miss my second home.

Also, you can check out Kayla’s blog here and Alyssa’s blog here.