Handicraft store brings Phuket to Fort

When in Thailand next, your primer will be polished, courtesy a little buying time at The Bombay Store's Thai Fest. What's On took a trip to Thailand in a shopping cart

As we entered The Bombay Store, we braced ourselves for boring in-flight music and a trillion Buddhas humbling us to convert from every corner. At their week-long Thai Fest, there are plenty of Oriental wares, from wood carving to umbrella calligraphy, candle-making, even performing artists presenting traditional dances. Anyone can ship a few cartons of woodwork from Pondicherry, and hold a fest in Mumbai, where detailed work like this is hard to come by.

The USP:u00a0 So, what's unique about this shopping fest? Bejan J Barucha, the store's General Manager said, "All you see on display, is skilled craft from the northern city of Chiang Mai famous for its craftsmen. For a week, local artisans will carve, paint, design and cook especially for shoppers. It's our way of giving them a taste of Thailand without having to move an inch."

We were sold. You can actually ask the artists seated at work stations to teach you how to make lotus candles, or even let you inscribe your name on a brolly, if you don't mess with the paint.

Sip on soups:u00a0 Cook Narawadee Thongboonchoo prepares Tom Yum soup using ingredients specially flown down for the event. Check out his cooking corner, if only to be surprised how different brinjals can be in Thailand. We came away with a tip on where to source Kaffir lime leaves at Crawford Market; they give Thai soups their distinct flavour.

"How come, for such genteel hospitable people, there's nothing sweet to munch on?" we asked store attendant Aditi Dalal. She took us over to a counter stacked with wafer sticks in all possible flavours. The fruit preserves peeping from a corner of a shelf, tempt you to dip your wafer sticks in, right away.

Budget buys: Radhika Mehra, owner of a resort in Lonavla liked the spread because it was affordable. "Where will I get an ornate display umbrella like this, to spread in my living room, for just 800 bucks, and that too with my name on it?"

We are not quite sure you'd want a rainguard hanging in your living room, but there's more to choose from.

Hand-made candles start for as little as Rs 50, engraved pencils cost Rs 100. A mango wood bloated doll key chain comes for Rs 100. Check out a Rs 35,000 reclining Buddha, if you are feeling rich.

Free foot massage: And if all the walking around tires you, like it did us, the store has thrown in a free 15-minute foot massage, for those of you who spend Rs 3,000 and more. When Bharucha suggested that we stretch our feet, we hadu00a0 to politely decline. We had to run back, and file this report for you guys, didn't we?

At: The Bombay Store, Sir PM Road, Fort. From 10.30 am to 7.30 pm.
On till February 15.
Call: 22885049 / 40669934