The following picture was taken in Ayuthaya, Bangkok. At a local night market, walking distance from where I was staying. I could not help but notice these handmade butterflies from dried palm leaves. The patterns are hand drawn too, with markers. Wanna guess the price? 15 Baht each--0.50 USD.
And here is the picture of the artist. I can imagine him sitting under a large tree, cross legged working on his art. A lit cigarette wastes away next to his tea. His cat facing away from the cigarette smoke, pretends to take a nap!! The man was very gentle, could hardly speak any english, but me, I had learnt to haggle in Thai. Although, here there was no bargaining required. I did buy two of these, just so I would not feel guilty for taking his picture.
Oh, and yes, see those green things in the basket? I had had them a few times in my childhood. They are thalmus of a lotus plant. Thick and fleshy, not only do they provide support for the delicate lotus flower, but also help them float on water, and sometimes float long distances. Lotus grows in stagnant water, so 'long distances' here is relative. However, the fun part is that there are these almond sized fleshy edible fruits inside of the thalmus. I loved them the first time I had them, when I was about eight. But ever since then, every time I have had them they have not been ripe, so they are slightly bitter. When I saw them on my last visit to Thailand, so many memories of childhood came back. These are more common in tropical regions, so were not very common in North India. I have also heard that in south of India there is a special dish made of lotus petals and stamina (plural of stamen). In general, no place can match Asia's ingenuity in cuisine. Asians have highly developed taste buds, and the world has benefitted from it!!
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