I'm Obsessing

My first obsession at the moment has to do with our driver and my kids. For the FIRST time, I am doing what most other moms do - letting my driver pick up and transport my children home from camp (at AES in Delhi) without me in tow. The plan was to drop them off and drive me back to Laburnum (90 min in car) and then I could finally start to organize us for our trip while Micky headed back to Delhi to wait for and pick up the boys. Yikes. I'm a total wreck! I keep telling myself it's like putting my kids on a bus but then I remember.... this is India! And, just yesterday we had the misfortune of seeing a motorcycle/truck accident where - once all was said and done - the motorcycle was lodged under the truck and the helmet was shattered everywhere (thank god this man wore a helmet although I'm quite confident it did not save him). As you can see by the fact that I'm blogging instead of packing... I'm not making the best use of my kid free hours.

My second obsession is Pashminas -
Pashmina refers to a type of cashmere wool and textiles made from it. The name comes from Pashmineh, made from Persian pashm (= "wool"). This wool comes from a special breed of goat indigenous to high altitudes of the Himalayan mountains. The special goat's fleece has been used for thousands of years to make high-quality shawls that also bear the same name. The Himalayan Mountain goat, Capra hircus, sheds its winter coat every spring and the fleece is caught on thorn bushes. One goat sheds approximately 3-8 ounces of the fiber. Villages would scour the mountainside for the finest fleece to be used. Cashmere shawls have been manufactured in Kashmir and Nepal for thousands of years, but the Indians never called them "pashmina". They were popularly called Kashmiri wool shawls. The test for a quality pashmina has been warmth, feel and the passing the shawl through a wedding ring.

Shawls (full size), stoles (half size - still big) etc. etc. etc.. I can't stop shopping for them. I started shopping for them about two weeks ago so that I could bring home some gifts and at first it was very confusing - all the different mixes, real pashminas, pashmina from Kashmir, pashmina from Punjabi (not as good?), pashmina/wool blends, pashmina/silk blends and on and on and on. Oh - and the whole "hand woven" thing is tricky too. Only the most expensive ones are hand woven (pure pashmina) but the lower ends will say "hand woven" because the embroidery is hand woven after the shawl is made. Get the picture? The huge variation in pricing just makes things MORE complicated. As an expat buying shawls - I'm a sucker waiting to be taken by every seller in town. They know it, I know it. So, there is this whole "feeling out" to see how much I know and also for me to see how honest or shady they are going to be. It's very sadistic. It's very fun. I can't stop doing it. It's like hunting for that antique in a thrift shop.

Shawls make great gifts - easy to pack - wide range of prices, beautiful colors, relatively inexpensive. I've bought a lot of shawls, scarfs etc. The worst part is I want to go back for more! I'm addicted. The best of the best, 100% Hand Woven Kashmir Pashminas are about 8-10,ooo rupees ($200) for solid colors. I am NOT bringing them home as gifts. If anyone wants one of these - let me know which color and I'll BE OH SO HAPPY to buy it for you. Otherwise, get ready to pick your gift from a wide variety of colors, sizes and beautiful blends (mostly 70% pashmina/30% silk).

2 more hours of obsessing on issue number 1 and then I'll relax a bit.