THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is a widely accepted truism among shopaholics that a certain feeling of loss haunts them after each shopping gets done. It grips you from the moment the bills are paid and the neatly-wrapped goods handed over across the sales counter. Though you can always come back and there is always something that you have set your mind on for a second coming, a shopping done is a shopper’s pang. There is always the lingering wish that there was something more to buy; something that would help prolong the shopping experience. This Onam, here is one shopper’s stop that you can visit as many times you want and still find something you had missed the last time. The Ministry of Rural Development has joined hands with the State Rural Development Department and the Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat to organise ‘Saras Mela’ for the second time in the city. The Mela at the Manjalikulam ground, with stalls that number around 300, has enough to stop by more than once. The cloth lovers can buy up all the Mangalagiri, Pochampally, Maheswari and Chanderi they want over one or two days and come back again to check out the other stalls. If you are in search of collectibles and decoratives, there is plenty to feast on that it warrants more than one trip. Then, for those with a fetish over footwear, there are the Kolhapuris, the synthetic footwear with embroidery from Uttarakhand, the lightweight jute sandals, leather footwear from Haryana and much more to shop for. Handicraft exhibitions are also avenues that offer us an opportunity to marvel at the versatility of our traditional arts. The intricate embroidery in floral and checkered patterns on footwear - the ‘aari’ work, ‘makhdi’ work and bead work, the ‘sherwani juti’ and the colourful Pakistani ‘jooti’ - is as much a work of art to admire as the stuffed wall decorations laced with golden-coloured ribbons from Gujarat. Meena Kumari has hands calloused from endless needle work and the sight of her sitting amidst the colourful hangings, engrossed in sewing tiny dolls, is like an image caught in a time warp. How many days and nights this wrinkled, stooping woman must have spent sewing these glittery knick-knacks? The curved shape of a horn can pass for another of the many bronze artefacts on display at the Chhattisgarh stall. Resembling a miniature of our traditional ‘kombu’ in shape, the imposing sound of the instrument can catch you off-guard when it comes alive at the hands of the artisan brothers from Dantewada. They tell us that the instrument, that sounds much like a conch, is used in their village during ‘poojas’ in temples and homes. Figurines of snakes with raised hoods, bulls, horned tortoises and other fantastic creatures made in bronze are lined up at the stall. The Hyderabadi pearls, white metal ornaments, semi-precious stones, good luck charms, woollen carpets, sofa and cushion covers, rugs, ‘kurtas/kurtis’, ‘panchamukhi rudrakshas’ from Nepal, ‘patta chitra’ artwork from Orissa and much more await you as you wade through the crowd and make your way around the pavilion. Once you get a water colour painting done by Sinoj, an artist from Ernakulam, or an anklet made on-the-spot by Tarun from the beads you choose, it is always a good idea to take a break. For, you can go on returning until September 8.
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