A Unique Cultural Contrast

Sunday, March 9, 2008

We had our driver take us to the post office in Jaipur (one of the 3 golden triangle cities that we toured in India) to mail a package of souvenirs that we collected in India. Upon arrival, we noted that all the signs were in the Hindi language, but we observed a short line around a simple table where articles were being prepared to be mailed by one gentleman and we waited in line for our turn. We had a small plastic bag and needed a box or some kind of wrapping to mail them. Their mailing supplies were meager to say the least! On a chair were stacked pieces of white cloth, a very thin material of different sizes and lengths. One person measured our items (luckily we had them all in 1 plastic bag fitted in snuggly) and selected a piece of cloth that would just fit around it. He then took out a needle and thick thread, started to sew two sides and created the cloth into a bag while we waited. Amazingly, our items just fit into this makeshift cover! He then finished off the last side, also with a needle and thread, tucking the extra material tightly before he hand sewed it. It was so perfectly compact! No tape, no paper or synthetic materials were used and it only took about an hour for this process!