Casino night

On Thursday night the British High Commission Club (which usually has more than a whiff of the old peoples home about it..sorry) was transformed as the site of the British Women's Associations Annual Casino Night Fundraiser.  We as intended, lost all our chips, and had a fine night out in the process.  Considering that neither Lon nor I are big risk takers or gamblers in real life, we certainly made a fine go of it!

Lon checking out the rules at the poker table

before playing a hand or two

blackjack

roulette

a most excellent jacket was spotted..

Back at Basha, and a trip to Tarango

After our visit to Basha I sent a follow up email offering to help "match" the following match day.  Not an entirely altruistic offer, since I would also have the chance to match for myself as I was going along..so on Tuesday I went back to Basha

 at Basha I was faced with IKEA bags full of used cotton and silky saris in their small stock room

 I worked by creating piles of similar colours and tones on the table (silky) and the floor (cotton)

So in accordance with the colour palette preferred by the client in the US, I set to making choices, so many choices.  I "matched" 40 or so silk/cotton "mixed" kanthas, then 14 pairs for use in cotton Christmas stockings, and then another 30 or so "luxury" quilts i.e. silky silky.

Christmassy cottons

I was so busy I didn't take many photos really. It was exhausting making so many choices, and especially trying to keep to a client brief.  My tendency was to be quite conservative, looking for a colour which could be found to "match" on both sides, while the experienced matchers sometimes make choices which would not occur to me.  There are also limitations which are a result of the materials, using second hand or "vintage" saris, means that the colours popular here - oranges, scarlet reds, sludgy greens dominate.  There are not the delicate purple paisleys or turquoises with silver that you might wish to find.  Colours that look good on a Bangladeshi woman, are not necessarily the colours that we in the west might want in our living rooms or bedrooms.

photoshoot on the balcony. There is not much room

 

Jute/ Kantha slippers in a local supermarket - I came across these two hours after joining a discussion about possible new products for Basha - looks like this for this product idea it is too late!

By 4 I was matched out - and went down the road to visit Tarango (5 mins away) to take Kohinoor some samples of banana leaf baskets we have from Rwanda, as this is an area they are exploring...and we have a few banana leaf baskets around the place.

It was very interesting seeing the nerve centre of the operation, after having seen the rural production, it was good to see the urban production, quality control and finishing processes

quality control

handles being added

patterns

storeroom

cement bags being cut up

Rocket back to Dhaka

The "Rocket" evokes a bygone era. It is still a world where first, second and third class passengers are fully segregated, and first class comes complete with Steward.  One set of our tickets had the motto - "travel with a different" - and both our journeys on the river were indeed very different.  I wouldn't have missed either for the world.

The rocket

Paolas pic enjoying aperos on the deck

first class dining (9 o'clock at night - of course)

First class

Second class

the floor aka Third class

The second class cook

Engine room - part of the public space

second class "bar" (alcohol free)

dawn call to prayer approaching Dhaka

Paolas pic - tea and biscuits before we disembark

early morning Dhaka

We survived! an incredible trip, made possible by the generosity of spirit of Tarango, and enjoyable by travel companions who were so prepared to travel under basic circumstances rather than 5* tourism happily.