Day 6 @ Bangalore

An hour and a half on the bus and we were at a bustling cocoon market. Farmers were having their products tested at the in-house lab before there were put up for auction. The tests will determine the quality of the catch and the quantity of cocoons required to produce 1 kg of silk. Some Maths lesson we had there about ratio too! This will then determine how much the farmers will rake for that particular yield. Therefore, there is always an incentive to producing quality cocoons. Farmers were also provided with information on how to improve their products. Within minutes all the cocoons changed hands - from the farmers to the silk producers!

We moved on from here (a short bus ride) to witness the reeling. The smell was unbearable but certainly struck a chord deep in us.... unforgettable.... You could smell the factories from a distance. The cocoons were placed in hot water (70 to 80 degrees celcius). About 3 cocoons were placed together before reeling was done. This was to ensure the prevention of snapping during reeling.

The next step was weaving where we saw the machineries at work. All this were done at separate locations.

We then went on to see where these silk worms came from. The worms were barely the size of ants, more accurately, 'teeny weeny black ants' and hardly visible unless you stare real hard at the leaves before any form of crawlies could be seen! =( The sight certainly got our hairs standing on its ends when seeing them!!! Eyeoooow.... They were fed with leaves from the Mulberry leaves. The quality of the leaves were not compromised as it affected the quality of the silk; as the saying goes - you reap what you sow... so the saying holds true after all ..

After this, we headed to the Karnataka cultural centre. The sculpturer was very skillful. Within a few minutes he could make, pots, plates and even a magic lamp which we had no qualms in purchasing as part of our quest to being Aladdins in our own rights... hee hee...what a catch! Some of us also bought other clay items that the man had 'conjured' up...

We then headed back to the hotel as most of us were tired after our tour of the cultural centre; yet another day of insight into what were some of the primitive tools that the forefathers used in their daily lives. It definitely made us appreciate what we have today... cheers for modernisation and mechanisation.... =)