Namaste everyone,
Shopping in South India is a whirlwind of an adventure. On Sundays, the whole town gathers in their ‘Sunday best’ to pick out the best selection of food, household items, clothing, and other trinkets. When shopping in the market, I learned to first do a quick once over to make sure I’d seen all of the items available. After that it was easy to go back to the items and shopkeepers I liked best. Next, it’s time to get bargaining! Sometimes, you come out with a win. Other times the shop keeper comes out with a big smile on their face, letting you know they got the better end of the deal.
Shopping for Kanti in India has elements of this market adventure and chaos. Once I located a women’s development cooperative, it was important to keep the ties fresh. Weekly visits to see some of the new necklaces, bracelets, and earrings was always fun. With it came chats with the women to build good relationships. Sometimes they’d excitedly show me some of their new products, which I was always eager to see. After some time, they started to know what the Kanti style was, and so every time I went, the ladies would have a new necklace or set of earrings for me to look at. It’s amazing what a difference a year makes. Kanti now has reliable connections that will allow us to continue bringing you beautiful jewelry and other goods from India as often as we can!
We just got in a new order of great necklaces from South India. Check them out here!
Much love,
Coco
