Under the clear winter night sky, from the place where I was watching him, Bimala or the one with the nice character, as her mother wanted her to be called, who could not see her daughter growing up, dreamed how she could weave her future. From the brightest stars she made flowers with the power of imagination and gave them to Ganesha, to bring well-being and peace to the house where she lived with her old father.
As spring approached and the monsoon was about to arrive, to bring good crops to the lands where they worked, the inhabitants of the region prepared for the feast of fertility and the beginning of new crops. Bimala, like all girls of her age, went every night to the temple where they repeated the ritual dances with which they would meet the prince and through which they would tell the story of Shiva.
Bimala's father was a tailor, and this year he had been called to the palace to sew the prince's clothes for the great feast. The Prince declared himself dissatisfied with all the fabrics the old tailor had presented him with: "If in one week you do not come with a fabric that impresses me, you will spend the rest of the days in the elephants horde cleaning up their garbage! ", said the Prince.
There is nothing more intriguing about the beautiful and innocent Bimala than the idea that her father could die doing such a difficult job for his age and powers.
She had fallen asleep with the image of the flowers made of stars for the god in her eyes. Immediately Ganesha appeared in a dream with his elephant face and told her that in exchange for an offering of marigold flowers and a 10 rupee bank note, he would show her where the cloth could be found. So the next morning she went to the temple, and on the way home she passed in front of an inn where a servant took out a bag of onion skins that he was about to throw away. Her eyes lingered on the onion skins and a beautiful memory came to light. As a child, her grandmother, who went to heaven, dyed a fine silk cloth with onion peels, the color of the silk became like gold and shone like the sun when it dried on the ropes.
She went home and collected all the peels from the onion basket, immediately prepared an infusion, with which she painted a large piece of white silk from her father's workshop.
After a week, during the festivities, the prince on the white elephant wore a golden coat of fine, light silk, Bimala danced like a flake, and the old tailor thanked Ganesha for the peace and well-being of his home.
Somewhere in India women now paints the silk, golden with onion peels. Art and tradition, cultural heritage and crafts still bring joy, peace and prosperity.
Nothing prevents you from choosing and supporting them by buying handmade products that will become Your second skin.
