At the roadside of rural communities, men and women sold bananas, water melons and coconuts to eke a living. Not one day was a dud; just some excelled more than others


A


CCORDING TO information gleaned during our fabulous travels through the


cities, and backwaters, and history of India, there is no finer saree than one made from Mysore silk. “We hear from customers in the UK every day,” said Nadeem Mazer, who showed us a sample of the enormous stock of silk that is available within the Mysore Cauvery Silk Emporium, a


72 SAVILE ROW STYLE MAGAZINE


Karnataka Government store. “Generation to generation know us. The silk from Mysore, you see, is the finest silk in all of India.” Apparently it has much to do with the climate: warm winters are desirable for the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm and Mulberry trees are prolific in the region around Mysore. It requires 6.5m of silk to make one saree – and one to be worn by a bride on her wedding day is priced


here at around 200,000 rupees (approximately £2,300); an exorbitant amount in a nation with an average income of $616. My wife, Rachel, was satisfied with a Mysore silk Pashmina, at a cost of the equivalent of £80 after a little haggling with Nadeem. Our shopping excursion followed a visit to the magnificent Mysore Palace, where the 27th titular king of the erstwhile Mysore Royal Family, Yaduveer Krishnadatta


IMAGES ADOBE STOCK, PA IMAGES


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