well....very new to all this pallava.....honestly...how much time does it take to get all this together, sort through images, write text...AND maintain it all...do you really want to know what I am up to..the colour of my nasal hair...what I ate for tea seven and three-quarter hours ago??? Everything everybody does now is SO important, and MUST be shared with others.....goodness....wouldn’t it be terrible if somebody missed some vapid inconsequential detail from a rather dull existence. EGO , like some rampant weed,  has gone  uncontrollably wild in the ether. 

I am weak....... I have succumbed........I am now writing this from the Scholar’s Retreat(  to my sister Shelley, who is Chief Sub at Red magazine , I apologize for any errors in punctuation or grammar......is it ‘Scholar’s Retreat’ or ‘Scholars’ Retreat’ ?) nestled atop the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, which looks down upon the whole blue city of Jodhpur.

It’s so cool to be able to live in a palace...it’s a childhood dream of a fairy-tale come true.

As any westerner who has lived , is living, or has spent any time whatsoever in India knows, it is a rare luxury not to be choked to death by traffic fumes, have one’s ears prematurely deafened by  blaring claxons, or be hounded by all and sundry  for one’s good name, one’s good country, or one’s good money.

The wind whips round the battlements at night, and the city twinkles below. Sunsets ( for those who like’em) descend in hue from cerulian to terracotta , finally to midnight blue.

Kipling’s quote ...of the fort being built by giants.... still captures the imagination as you look up and up and up from below at the endlessly soaring ramparts and level upon level of palace buildings, until they seem to dissappear into the sky like Jack’s fabled beanstalk!

Peace and tranquility....a rare find in this amazing country.....unless one goes  and finds an isolated cave, or sits ontop of a rock...which is sort of what I am doing I suppose.... reigns supreme up here in one of the most wonderful museums in India. I have been priveledged to be asked back here to work by the Curator for 2 months on a project , and am enjoying every minute of it. It is my third day, and I am surrounded by books, books, books...part of what I have to do is read lots of them....fabulous fabulous fabulous!

I have just spent the past two-and-a-half months in Kutch. I was working with several of the artisans in and around Bhuj to produce some pieces to sell on my fledgling web-site. Got to have something to sell right? Or at least this is what I keep on telling myself...

Mostly enjoyed myself dyeing the silk, and wool yarns that had been tied and trussed-up for the ikat scarves that I was getting woven. 

It was great...I got to live in my own ground-floor flat( an essential for those who would want to live there during one of the hottest parts of the year as its coolest there!)right in the middle of town, 3 mins walk form the bus station, and 5 mins from Gopi Gola....fantastic psychedelic icecream creations concocted for me nearly every night by Mehul.

The only minor problem is that Gujarat is a DRY state...for those who don’t know what this means......let me tell yah.......it means going into withdrawal as you can’t buy ANY booze without a permit, which you can only get as a tourist if you are staying at a hotel(which I wasn’t !) , or possess a utilities bill (which I didn’t ! ) Sound like a desperate alky? Well yes I suppose, but it’s like anything...the more one is told you can’t have something...the more one wants it!

For more info about my textiles , check out    www.simonmarks-textiles.com

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