My mom had been after me even before the official dates for the India International Mega Trade Fair were announced. She really wanted to go and take a peek as she loves browsing the aisles to find something new and exciting (so that is where I get that from). She was unable to go last year coz of health concerns and that made her even more determined to attend it this year.

     There are different pavilions or halls dedicated to different types of products like Furniture, Electronics, Decoration items, Food and Lifestyle products. This time around there is a huge pavilion which contains Bengali saris. There were very few stalls that I felt carried anything unique there. Most of the stuff could be found in Gariahat or Rash Behari. But some had gorgeous Chikankari sarees. On a different note there were a lot of stalls displaying marble goods, some were from Pakistan and others from India. There had gorgeous tables inlaid with the stone and these small decoration pieces and lamps. I really loved some bangles made of the stone but they were unfortunately a tad small for me. But do check them out as they had beautiful pastel shades and were priced at Rs. 100 each. Sorry but I didn’t end up taking any pictures of the fair. 

     There some stalls from Egypt which feature some beautiful art works and these mesmerizing mosaic glass lamps. The myriad of colors and patterns will have you enthralled. I was on the look out for some candles and found this one stall with fragrance tea light ones along with some aroma packets and oil burners. They had a lot of designs in the oil burners which were small in size and super cute. You get very big and plain ones out here. I got myself one and it cost me Rs. 150/-. The aroma packets were quite good and had a strong fragrance to it. There were 4 variants and I picked 2 which cost me Rs. 50/- each. The tea light candles came in a pack of 10 and had 5 different fragrances. There were 2 versions to it and they each cost around Rs. 150/-. I picked this set as I found the smell to be a little stronger than the other. It contains Vanilla, Rosemary, Orchid, Murraya Paniculata and Wrightia Religiosa. 

    While browsing the many stalls we came upon one with beautiful Kashmiri clothes. They had a huge range of shawls, warm kurtis, suit pieces, etc. My eyes fell on this beautiful kurti/jacket which was white in color and had soft grey embroidery on it. The combination was just so elegant that it captured me completely. When I checked it, the piece was very well made and even had an excellent quality lining inside which you don’t get to see often. I bought it for around Rs. 2000/- (there was no way I could leave it). We picked up a light shawl for a mere Rs. 250/- which was black in color and had animal prints on it in shades of blue.

The beautiful white jacket/kurta

The shawl

    We came across a stall carrying Pakistani suits. They were quite nice and priced around Rs. 850/- for just the kurta I think. But we didn’t end up picking anything from there and moved along. My mom spotted this huge counter that had suit pieces/material and I told her that they were from Karachi. It was a stall from Gul Ahmed. Neither of us knew anything about the brand but we went in to look at what they had to offer.  They had a huge range of stuff mostly in different types of cotton material. What I liked about them was they had different pieces for different parts of the kurta. Like the sleeves were something, the salwar was another, some other different pieces for front and back. 

     While we were browsing a huge crowd begin to gather at the stall and from pieces of conversation going around I could make out that they were a big deal apparently. People came asking for catalogs and particular dress designs. While some came to see their heavier collection as they had witnessed someone wearing one to a wedding function and found it to be marvelous. From subtle elegant pieces to flamboyant and rich colored pieces they had something for everyone. My mom picked 3 pieces and I got 1 for myself. I don’t remember the price for each but they were upwards of Rs. 2000/-. 

This one is mine 🙂

    After that bout of shopping we wander about some more and didn’t let up till we covered the entire fair. Tried and satisfied with our shopping joust we headed back home 🙂 Btw these people set up a food cafeteria every time which has a huge pavilion to itself and it is the most crowded one at any given time. Sometimes there is even pushing and jostling for the food counters where harried men are busy preparing bits of an order. Such a sight to see 😛 People sure love their food 😀 Well that was a recap of the day I spent with my mom. If you are in Kolkata then do head down to the fair as they do have some nice offerings. Try to go on a weekday somewhere around 1-2 as it is less crowded then and even the roads are reasonably empty. I will catch you soon. Bye!