A Very Happy New Year to you.  We wish you the very best of health and prosperity.   Although the greeting ‘Happy New Year’ is quite customary, it is also quite special, unique and personal, because happiness naturally means different things to different people.  Albert Schweitzer tongue-in-cheek said, “Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”  While Kin Hubbard’s thought-provoking observation was, “It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed.”  Well, we hope whatever brings you this much sought happiness, you continue to find more and more of it this year.

Dear Friends,

Jingle jingle is the inviting sound of the season.  The winter mornings have become a trifle frosty, at least in the Northeast, and snow flakes can’t be too far away.  December is the month that embodies the holiday spirit.  And in that very holiday spirit, we wish you and your dear ones a wonderful, joyous and safe Holiday season.

Thanksgiving is over, and so is the next day rush to the neighborhood mall for the usual stuff.  If you are looking for something special and different, then there are a number of charming gift ideas on our website.

Great Quality, Great Value, and Free Shipping on orders over $25.  That’s our holiday cheer.

Our products are ethnic in nature, and mostly handmade for a global audience with interest in creative and vibrant color expressions. The products capture the essence of individual creativity, and vibrancy of color which takes ones breath away by the ornate design and details. We offer jewelry of styles, including hand-painted Meenakari jewelry, rugged gypsy jewelry, and hand carved detailed silver anklets and earrings. Ethnic jewelry creation remains a hand-carved activity even though tools are used to assist. This jewelry typically originates in the Indian state of Rajasthan and is sourced by us from local artisans. The ethnic costumes of cotton kurtis (tunics) are hand-stitched, and at time even the fabric is hand-painted using dye-and-block design. The items that we offer are sourced from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Our products are unique and very individual in nature, and particularly when it comes to costumes, we are unable to guarantee or offer 2 products of the same kind since a hand-made design will have variance and can be similar but not identical.We have focused on providing you with an outstanding experience, which is ethnic in its appeal and professional in its approach. The website attempts to capture the elegance of Indian style, and the diversity of its arts and fabrics. We hope you also enjoy the experience, like many of our other members of the ShopIndia community.
We have built our reputation with satisfied customers and the trust that has been built over the years by serving customers online since 1998. We  have a lot of matching Jewelry, particularly the kind that goes well and looks cool during all seasons. These are the vintage look tribal gypsy banjara jewelry, silver anklets and earrings. Take advantage of our Free Shipping in the US promotion, and try out the new products. There is nothing to lose. Experiment, Enjoy, and Exult. If there are any suggestions or comments, please feel free to write to us at support@ShopIndia.com

Gobble gobble.  Welcome to the month of Thanksgiving and its plumpish mascot – the Turkey.  As the leaves glide down gently in this Autumn season bidding their final adieu, much of the world enters into a period of celebration.  The closing months of the year are truly the festive months, with some of the big festivals – Eid, Diwali (festival of lights), and Christmas – falling during this period.  It is also time to get ready for the big Thanksgiving feast.  Cooking a Turkey though is no easy feat.  As the quick-witted American comedian Rita Rudner noted, “Most turkeys taste better the day after; my mother’s tasted better the day before.” :-)In this festive spirit, Shipping is Free in the US for ALL orders of $50 or more.  A perfect way to get an early start even on your Holiday shopping season.Many thanks for continuing to add us as a Link on your websites and blogs.  It really helps in spreading the word and allows the search engines to locate us quicker and position us more relevantly.Please note that our eMails about promotions and order information may not reach you, unless you add us to your Address Book.Remember, it is the early bird that catches the juiciest worms. Catch you online!

Much of the handwork in India is done in small towns and smaller villages. Both men and women share the work. In many cases, the entire Kasbah (community) becomes famous for a particular kind of handwork. And there are thousands and thousands of such Kasbahs. Villages after villages acquire their own identity and distinctiveness by the work they perform. These communities literally buzz with hundreds of people specializing in different aspects of a particular handwork skill. The finesse is truly astounding. Indian jewelry has a certain mystique about it and is unquestionably fascinating. We offer costume, reversible Meenakari enamel jewelry from the sand dunes state of Rajasthan as well as sterling silver jewelry in fascinating and unique designs. You are bound to fall in love with them.

We offer unique items with exceptional quality.  We hope you have already had an opportunity to experience that.  As Henry J. Heinz, a captain of the US industry whose name is present on most ketchup bottles one will find on breakfast tables, once said, “Quality is to a product what character is to a man.”  We could not agree more.  Our clothes have a strong character of their own, uncompromising in their quality and inimitable in their styling.  We have had many people talk about our quality and compare it to others.  Some of their comments can be found in the Testimonial section on the website.  The bottom-line for us is that you must be satisfied with our Quality.

As delightful and festive winter is, similarly inspiring and captivating are the many different kinds of embroidery art prevalent in India. Much of the Indian embroidery is hand-done, and the talent and its glorious expression lives and dies with the artisan. The skill however is passed on to others in the family, and that is how it survives and thrives honed further by every new generation. There are villages and regions in India, which are named just for the kind of magical embroidery and art form they weave to perfection.
These are truly weaves of antiquity, honed over hundreds of years. There are literally tens of spellbinding embroidery styles. Some of the famous ones are: Kutch, Chikan, Zari, Zardosi, Phulkari, Kantha and Banarsi.
Zardosi is the royal embroidery, which is practiced skillfully in the cities of Lucknow and Agra, the city that is home to the Taj Mahal. The Zardosi embroidery can be traced back to the sixteenth century, when Emperors and aristocrats cherished Zardosi embroidery for its detail, intricate patterns and sheer golden opulence. A North Indian bride carries with her an elaborate zardosi trousseau.
Similarly, Zari is the over 500 years old Indian art of embroidery using gold and silver threads. The Zari handwork is extremely fine, and requires great skill, patience and creativity, that ultimately creates an iridescent and exquisite pattern. Zari embroidery has long adorned saris and other Indian ethnic costumes, and now is used by top designer houses in their apparel and accessories lines.
The famous Kutch embroidery is from the Kutch region in Western India. They are distinctive in their use of bright, silkish threads and the liberal use of mirrors for accents.
Chikan is the graceful thread style embroidery made popular in the royal city of Lucknow. Chikan literally translated means embroidery. It is said that the embroidery was originally introduced to design clothes of Queen Noor Jahan, the beautiful mother of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan, who built the Taj Mahal. Chikan embroidery is typically in untwisted white cotton (and now even silk) thread and the design is dictated by the variety of stitches used, which give it resemblance to the Belgian lacework and the French knot work.
Kantha embroidery is a thread style embroidery which is famous in the West Bengal region, the home of the famous Bengal Tiger. The word Kantha means patchwork embroidery. The embroidery is done exclusively by Bengali women in their homes. The signature of the Kantha embroidery, is that the thread is carried over the surface in running stitches to produce a series of dotted lines.
The striking think about tunics on ShopIndia is the unbelievable range of fabric, colors and embroidery. The hand embroidery breathes life into the kurta. The range extends from formal to casual in regular to plus sizes for girls, women and tweens. Step in for Boho Kurtas and Jewelry.

The Festival Season is upon us.  Isn’t it intriguing that some of the biggest festivals for many communities are in the Fall season. On November 11, India and most Indians will celebrate  Deepavali – The Festival of Lights.  It is the grandest of all Indian festivals, something similar in importance, splendor and festivity to Christmas.  Deepavali, literally translated, means an array of lights, and is celebrated to herald the return, from exile, of one of the most revered Hindu Gods to his kingdom, and to wish prosperity and wealth to all.  Every house is decked with candles, lights, and diyas (miniature earthen lamps) to celebrate this joyous occasion.  Thus, the name Deepavali.  Cities literally twinkle in the orange and yellow glow of these lamplights, and it is a celestial, out-of-the-world experience.  Even the White House celebrates it.

Welcome to the Season of Pumpkins and friendly ghosts. October and November are also festive months in India. The two biggest festivals for most Indians, Dussehra and Diwali (the Festival of Lights), fall during these two months. India is a very heterogeneous or non-homogeneous country. You can travel from one state to another, and there are distinct differences in culture, cuisines, art forms, and of-course even languages. There are languages that are constitutionally recognized and variants that are spoken in India. And not to forget, the thousands of dialects make it even more exciting. Complex enough. Well, this is what gives Indian art and culture its glorious diversity. And of course, Indian art form has become richer as it has been imbued over centuries with influences from the Eastern and Western civilizations.
We do offer some gold jewelry and silver anklets, although much of the selection is in sterling silver jewelry that can be easily matched with kurtis. And yes, our Sterling silver Banjara jewelry selection is in the traditional styles popularized by the Gypsies from the sand dune state of Rajasthan, in West India.
If there are any questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to write to us at support@shopindia.com
Enjoy the fiery colors of the Fall season!