GaramChai.com >> Main Bazaars
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There
are Indian grocery shops almost all the major towns
and cities in the US. The online bazaars provide an
alternative to these retailers and sell directly to
us, the consumers. The market is huge but fragmented.
There are a number of established importers of Indian
spices, lentils (dal’s), herbs and condiments who distribute
them through the chain of Indian shops and bazaars.
Click
on the links below for the most comprehensive listing
of Indian shops, bazaars, jewelers and other businesses
in the US:
Online
Shopping:
GaramChai.com's
Online shopping section has extensive listings of shops,
businesses and others catering exclusively to the needs
of the NRI, and Non resident community. Some of the
popular services offered include money transfer, gifting
to relatives in India and shopping for grocery, goods
and services in the US.
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Indian Grocers in the US:
For our extensive listings of Indian Grocery
shops, click here:
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Sari and Indian Dress Shops : This
section of GaramChai.com features Saree, dress and apparel
shops and boutiques catering to Indian, Pakistani and
South Asian communities across North America.
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Indian Jewellery Shops in America: In
this section of GaramChai.com, you will find extensive listings
of Indian Jewelers, gold, diamond vendors who also sell
readymade 22/24 carat gold and silver jewellery.
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Little India:
Feature on 'Little India,' South-Asian and Indian shopping
arcades and enclaves in the US and North America. Global
Little India section features south-asian shopping
in other foreign countries.
- Ready
to Eat
:
Feature
on Ready to Eat Industry in India and the world, including
USA, Canada and North America. Details on major players
in RTE industry and interesting articles.
- Book
Review: Indian Grocery Store Demystified
:
`The
Indian Grocery Store Demystified' by book designer and illustrator,
Linda Bladholm is an exposition of ingredients with a very
nice little twist which saves it from being a poor man's
`Bruce Cost's Asian Ingredients'.
Devon Avenue
Even for the younger generation, `Little India' provides
the spice of old-fashioned Indian and Pakistani life
Tea on Devon Avenue is rich, ambrosial Indian masala tea, muddy
brown and laced with enough cream to form a skim on top--different
from the tea at Starbucks, to be sure, but not wholly unfamiliar.
It's a little exotic to my neophyte tongue.
And it's served really, really hot. Scalding, McDonald's lawsuit
hot. .....
This
"Little India" is the stretch where food fans come
for Southeast Asian cuisine. Also here are jewelers, grocery
stores, travel agencies and sari boutiques, all competing
for sign and sidewalk space, as well as immigrant families,
many first-generation and some second........Raj proprietor
Divyesh Damji shows off his ranihar pieces, or gold necklaces
traditional for brides on their wedding day. If you think
wedding dresses are a stiff one-time expense, these ornate
crescents practically surround a bride's face in 22-carat
gold, and cost thousands of dollars.
From the Chicago Tribune If you liked this section, you
may also be interested in GaramChai.com's feature on Little
India
Sari
excuses Designers come up with new reasons to wear one
By
Betsy Lehndorff Special to the News (Rocky
Mountain News)
Although centuries old, the sari remains a subtle, feminine
form of adornment. It also is supremely creative, capable
of delicate evolution.
Soon these
silk, chiffon and cotton garments could draw more notice in
the United States. "Saris are becoming very Western in
terms of the color," says Denver-area businesswoman Neelam
Mehta.
While
she prefers the customary bright colors, some Indian designers
are creating saris in muted leopard prints, beaded champagne
silks, floral-embroidered whites and silver-encrusted blacks.
The West
has also influenced the draping of the garments. In New Delhi
magazines, saris now tumble seductively about the hips and
cascade down from bejeweled, sleeveless bodices. Relaxed evening
styles show bare waists, arms and shoulders. Enfolded in five
yards of fabric, you can reveal or conceal as much as you
wish.
In the
metro area, saris are difficult to find, although 5,000 to
7,000 Indian citizens live here, says Mehta, who is originally
from Ahmedabad, a city in western India. She and her husband
operate busy grocery stores in Aurora and Lafayette.
A search
of ethnic clothing stores may yield a few samples. Stores
offering imported furniture also may carry some. You can always
find silvery quilts, pillows and other textiles made out of
the elaborate, embroidered borders from these dresses.
On
the Web
Several
Internet Web sites offer saris. Check www.gagan.com
for their designs. Shijucreation.com
carries illustrated instructions on how to put on a
sari. Garamchai.com
carries a list of stores that sell saris in the United
States.
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An easier
way to locate saris is through an Internet search, which will
lead you to stores in the United States, London and Paris.
For background,
India is about a third the size of the United States but contains
four times the population — 1 billion people. The country
is divided into 25 states, each with its own language, Mehta
says. And gods. The country has 57,000 of them.
Each state
also has its own fashion dictates regarding the colors, patterns,
borders and wrapping styles of saris.
India's
fashions have changed in the past decade. Dresses and trouser
suits have allowed working women increased flexibility of
movement. "Dresses are more comfortable. You can be free,"
Mehta says.
But saris
remain the choice for weddings, funerals, special events and
festivals, such as the sacred thread ceremony that marks the
coming of age for young men.
Each event
requires a special sari, and the costumes may vary by state.
Some of the finest saris are made of Kanjeevaram silk and
come from the city of Benaras, in central India, Mehta says.
Shadowy, damask saris that throw off multiple bursts of color
can cost more than $1,000.
Wedding
saris are perhaps the most elaborate — red silks with dense
gold and silver embroidery.
Roma Mukherjee
Melrose's father traveled to Benaras to buy her wedding sari
when she married an American 12 years ago.
"Usually
the father gives the wedding costume," Melrose says.
"That's the culture of my state, West Bengal."
Her father,
an eminent Calcutta banker, also provided her a sari for the
reception and 450 additional saris, including matching petticoats,
blouses, slippers and accessories for day-to-day use, she
says.
Fathers
and grandfathers dictate what young women wear and provide
the saris, particularly as part of the dowry, Melrose says.
"I
thought the wedding sari was very gorgeous," she says.
"When you add so much gold to it, it reflects all of
the colors like enamels. It circulates light all through,
flickering around. It's just an amazing rainbow of colors.
The colors hit everything."
How to
wear it
If you
want to wear a sari, you need two essential ingredients: a
tight-fitting, scoop-neck top and a straight, ankle-length
cotton underskirt that matches the color of your fabric. The
underskirt needs to be secured around your waist with a cotton
tie because you'll be tucking fabric into the waistband. You
may need to make the underskirt.
One way
to wrap a sari is to start with the plainest end of the garment,
right side out. The border, if there is one, should be at
your feet. Working with the sari lengthwise, fold the top
edge of the fabric down toward you, until the width of the
fabric is a good skirt length.
Tuck this
folded end into the front of your underskirt, slightly to
the right, with the rest of the fabric to your left.
Using
your fingers, make five or six neat pleats in the fabric at
the center of your waist, and tuck them into the waistband.
The neatness of these pleats demonstrates your level of dressing
skill.
As you
continue to wrap the sari to your left, tuck several pleats
into the waistband above your left hip.
In the
center of your back, create a few more pleats "so you
can drive a car," Roma Melrose says. Then bring the fabric
around to your right hip and tuck some in.
Having
wrapped the fabric around yourself once, gather the rest of
the material, including the decorative end called a pallau,
run it across your chest and drape it over your left shoulder.
You should have about a yard and a half of the fabric cascading
down your back.
September
24, 2000
(Rocky
Mountain News)
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