CHAPTER X III
I think the spectacle of a whole life in which you have no part paralyses
personal desire; you are content to become a mere spectator. Stevenson.
I lu x u ria te in th e spectacle of o th e rs’ labours—Some d e ta ils as
to a rts an d c ra fts in S rin ag a r—A p le a san t te a p a r ty and a
la te re tu rn .
O f the city of Srinagar I had thus far seen really very
little, and as it is impossible to live in a world of
merchants, all selling amazingly artistic wares, without
giving one’s self up to some of the joys of collecting, for
several days I eschewed long expeditions and gave my
gracious permission to all the various sellers who passed
in their swift little shikars to board my doonga and
show me their goods. This is an ideal form of shopping,
no bustle, no hurry, and the buyer is enabled to
order exactly what he wants, for the goods
produced at the first meeting are merely specimens
from which cost and quality may be gauged.
Any orders are entered in a book, with price offered
by purchasers, and name and address of latter; also the
time when the things are to be completed and returned.
Naturally in practice this system does not quite fulfil its
ideal theory. Like true artists the Kashmiri workman
likes taking his own time; sometimes also he prefers
his own to his customer’s ideas, and the result is that
when the time of departure comes, the latter has either
to take what is but the shadow of the thing ordered,
or leave the country empty-handed. When possible,
the most satisfactory method is to allow the Kashmiri
liberty as to time, and, beyond a general scheme of
colour and outline of pattern preferred, leave all details
S rinagar
and arrangements of shades to his individual taste. He
will never make a mistake when unhampered by
restrictions, and the pieces of embroidery, mats, carpets,
etc., brought home by me look as lovely and perfect in
their new surroundings as when worked under other
skies for other purposes.
One of my first orders given before I went up the
river to Islamabad had been for two large felt mats—