Admission time: This writer calls herself a cloth tote bag hoarder. So whenever she finds herself in places that stock interesting styles or quirky word-play, she is drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Recently, while at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sangrahalaya on an assignment, as is our habit, we dropped by the Museum Shop for a dekko after our work was done. Lo and behold, a bright, cherry red colour canvas tote called out. 

The taupe khaki shaded front pocket sported an image of an Indian woman activist holding a flag extolling people to wear India-made clothes and to boycott foreign goods. While looking around, we noticed that designs on most of the tote bags were in sync with past exhibitions or galleries at the museum, and so we’d like to believe that this tote is probably a salute to the Changemakers exhibition that went live in December 2022 at the museum.