Why this blog is called "Gallimaufry".

gal-uh-MAW-free\, noun.

Originally meaning "a hash of various kinds of meats," "gallimaufry" comes from French galimafrée; in Old French, from the word galer, "to rejoice, to make merry"; in old English: gala + mafrer: "to eat much," and from Medieval Dutch maffelen: "to open one's mouth wide."

It's also a dish made by hashing up odds and ends of food; a heterogeneous mixture; a hodge-podge; a ragout; a confused jumble; a ridiculous medley; a promiscuous (!) assemblage of persons.

Those of you who know me, will, I’m sure, understand how well some of these phrases (barring the "promiscuous" bit!) fit me.

More importantly, this blog is an ode to my love for Shimla. I hope to show you this little town through my eyes. If you don't see too many people in it, forgive me, because I'm a little chary of turning this into a human zoo.

Stop by for a spell, look at my pictures, ask me questions about Shimla, if you wish. I shall try and answer them as best as I can. Let's be friends for a while....

14 January 2009

Shoppers' stop.

This is a great little place for souvenir-hunters: the Tibetan shop. It's located at the foot of the Mall, in Willow Banks.

They stock all sorts of things. Hand-knitted woollen socks, gloves and scarves; chakras and vajras and other assorted decorations used in Buddhist temples and places of worship; lovely hand-embroidered wall-hangings with traditional Tibetan patterns: the interlocking key, the trumpet shell, the pearl on fire, ocean waves and, of course, dragons; carpets in rich deep colours and bags of little and big sizes, from handy ones for carrying a cellphone to large ones which can hold sleeping bags and best of all, lovely silver jewellery. This is also posibly the only place in Shimla which stocks CDs of Nawang Khechog's music.
I wasn't able to persuade my gorgeous friend Rinzen to pose for a picture. His sweet-talking and wild locks force many a female buyer into spending far more than she intended! The man in the picture below is a distant cousin (and no patch on R).


Below, Mr. D (Rinzen's father) takes a prayer-break.

1 comment:

Ann said...

I would enjoy that shop (and talking to Rinzen, I think).

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