Assam Tribune, The

Spectacles on the bridge of the nose, eyes crinkling whenever that malleable fine wire twists recalcitrant, 50-something Bhanu Das deftly crochets a loop, her fingers flying as she weaves a metallic string. Her husband, Jatindra Nath Das, the 65+ owner of a narrow, long and rectangular Barpetia jewellery-making workshop, mixes tiny pieces of silver with pounded wood-coal and fires it in a mud stove. Once the embers go cold, the ash will be blown away leaving behind wee balls. Four men on the...

So, what are you celebrating a week from now? Vidyaramba, Bommai Kolu, Ayudha Puja, Simollanghan, Durgotsava, Sharodotsav or Navratri Puja? Different names for the same festival celebrated with some differences, the underlying story interlinked across the regions in some way or the other. What also is one across the geographies is the colour that we could wear each day of the 9 days! The colours, intrinsic to the festival, beginning from day 1, are orange, white, red, royal blue, yellow, green...

This is the world’s first — a wine not from any vineyard but from tea gardens! And, the tea gardens of Assam. You read that right — Assam’s very own Alpana Saikia had been crafting this beverage in her kitchen for long and when she read a news item in 2017 that Jorhat’s Tocklai Tea Research Institute has proved that good wine can indeed be made from Assam's tea, retaining all its health benefits, passion and a new-found hobby merged to go for it as an entrepreneur. For this Nagaon girl, when...

Indulgent eyes almost rolled in their sockets when the tween grandchild declared that the big knee-baring asymmetrical cut-outs are “not torn! This is style!” The top the tween wore also looked like it had been worn inside out with big orange stitches along the sleeves and scattered fringes along the hem. The distressed grandma looked appealingly and I smiled back assuring that her tween wasn’t going loopy at all. This style celebrates the natural aging process of clothes and could to a certain...

If you are a manufacturer — of anything, be it apparel, footwear, accessories or anything else under the sun, this is for you. As the globe grapples with the horrors of climate change being increasingly witnessed in the form of flash floods, cloud bursts, unseasonal rain or lack of it — just some of the visible signs, industries across the spectrum are scurrying to set their processes more compatible with the planet. Of course, there is a lot of greenwashing being done too. Irrespective, ripple...

Honestly, it’s time for us to hark back to our fashion/ lifestyle of yore. A time when clothes, or for that matter, any other item, be it bedlinen, upholstery or sundry household linen survived for generations. At my mother’s place some sets of soft cotton bedsheets from a ‘trusted’ brand were used when we were kids, her grandchildren hopped along the way, and today, when she is bedridden, they are still being used, after perhaps a thousand hand and machine washes. The print, specially of the...

Ever wondered how you ‘consume’ fashion? When was the last time you discarded a T-shirt or dress or sari or even a bedsheet, old cushion covers, footrugs? What did you do with them? Ever wondered how do those who live and breathe the malodourous air near a landfill — the huge mountainous mound of the city’s waste that gets dumped every day — survive from day to day in that nauseating stench? I don’t have numbers on how many million tonnes comprise clothing, but what I can suggest is we, the...

We wish it would rain and once the downpours begin we shall wish again for some respite. The roads will be in terrible snarls, the potholes and puddles bigger and splashier. It can be fun to go slop-clop on a muddy road once in many whiles, but a spray of that same muck by a speeding vehicle is definitely not the best way to start or end a day, or any time one is on any commute, or simply out for some chores or a much-needed walk. Well, here are some ways to counter the drip-drop-drip: Opt for...

In a politically correct world, there is no room today for criticising anyone if they are scrawny or fat, dark, wheatish or fair, short or tall, dressed to kill, or, killing with their dress sense! Yeah! It is all very good to not calling anyone names or even endearments of yore like Kaalu, Moti, Bhains (cringe), Paetlu, Dhepsi (overweight), Lambu, Gattu, and the more relevant in this context Chammakchchallo or someone inappropriately or gaudily dressed, not necessarily a bimbo or a petit-maitre...

How many times have you been body-shamed? While people are today increasingly aware of the inherent meanness associated with the shaming of an individual for weight, what cannot be negated is the need to eat healthy and burn those extra calories. Whether you are at it or not, here are a few points to help you visually tone down that paunch. And this is specifically for men. Women can borrow some tips too! Go monochrome! Not necessarily black or white, but any colour in some of its various hues...