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What to buy from India, and how to get it

Some things are simply better bought at the source — and the shops that sell them best are Indian shops that often will not post abroad. That is the gap we fill.

Kasavu Sarees

The cream-and-gold handloom of Kerala, bought from the shops that actually sell it, and sent to wherever you are.

Malayalam Books

Malayalam publishing barely exists outside India. This is how you reach it from anywhere.

Ayurvedic Products

Kerala is where ayurveda actually comes from.

Indian Ethnic Wear

The range an Indian site carries and a diaspora shop cannot, at Indian prices, sent to your door.

Pooja Items

Nilavilakku, idols, bells and the things a household needs that no shop near you stocks properly.

Set Mundu

Mundum neriyathum — the two-piece Kerala set, bought where it is actually woven and sent wherever you are.

Kerala Handloom

Three weaving villages, three distinct cloths, and no international sales channel between them. This is the one thing forwarding was made for.

Kerala Wedding Sarees

The bridal saree, the family's sarees and everything else on the list — bought across several Kerala shops, sent as one box.

Kerala Half Sarees

The half saree for a daughter's function — sized properly, in real kasavu, from the shops that make them for it.

Kurtas and Kurtis

The thing most people abroad actually wear, rather than the thing they wear twice a year — and the hardest Indian garment to buy well anywhere else.

Lehengas

The one garment where buying from India is not about saving money so much as it is about having any real choice at all.

Indian Wedding Invitations

The first thing you buy for the wedding, ordered from the place the whole trade lives in — and the one order where weight decides everything.

Indian Jewellery

Kundan, polki, temple work and everyday imitation sets — bought where they are actually made.

Readymade Saree Blouses

The half of a saree that is hardest to solve once you leave India — a blouse that actually fits, without hunting for a tailor who has stitched one before.

Banarasi Sarees

The most copied saree in India, which is why where you buy it matters more than what you pay for it.

Kanchipuram (Kanjeevaram) Sarees

There is one physical test that separates a real Kanjeevaram from a copy, and you can run it from a photograph.

Anarkali Suits

An Anarkali is a shape rather than a craft, which changes entirely what you should be checking before you pay.

Sherwanis

The one garment where what you cannot see from a photograph is what decides whether it was worth the money.

Chikankari

One check, done from the inside of the garment, tells you whether you are buying hand embroidery or a machine copy.

Bandhani

Almost everything sold abroad as bandhani is a screen print, and the difference is visible from the back of the cloth.

Paithani Sarees

Flip the pallu over. On a real Paithani the peacock is identical on both sides, and that is the whole test.

Mysore Silk Sarees

The only saree in this catalogue with a serial number woven into the cloth, and the only one where the official seller is a government corporation.

Jamdani Sarees

The famous Dhakai jamdani is Bangladeshi. What an Indian shop can sell you is Bengal jamdani from the Nadia towns, or Uppada jamdani from Andhra, and both are worth buying.

Phulkari

Phulkari is worked from the back. The embroiderer counts the stitches off the threads and does not see the front until it is finished, which is why no two pieces are the same.

Indian Books

Amar Chitra Katha, mythology for children, and the Indian-language titles that no bookshop abroad has ever stocked.

Block-Print Fabric

The workshops that print the cloth sell it by the metre to Indian buyers. You can be one of them.

Pochampally Saree

In a real Pochampally the pattern is dyed into the yarn before a single thread is woven, which is why the edges of every motif look softly blurred.

Patola Saree

A Patan Patola can take months to tie and weave, and it looks almost the same on both sides. That is also the easiest way to spot one that is not.

Sambalpuri Saree

Sambalpuri bandha is tie-dyed thread, not tie-dyed cloth: the pattern is in the yarn before the saree is woven.

Chanderi Saree

Chanderi is sheer because the yarn keeps its natural gum. Hold a real one up to the light and it glows evenly.

Kashmiri Pashmina Shawl

Most of what is sold abroad as pashmina is a blend. The GI label from the testing centre in Srinagar is the one check that settles it.

Chaniya Choli

The best chaniya cholis are made and sold in Gujarat, and the only thing that really goes wrong buying one from abroad is ordering too late.

Kerala Snacks

Banana chips fried in coconut oil, Kozhikode halwa and achappam taste different when they come from Kerala. Order them to your Kerala address and we send them on.

Indian Spices

Kerala grows the pepper and cardamom the spice trade was built on. Order from the source to your Kerala address and we send it on.

Nilavilakku and Brass Lamps

A nilavilakku is the lamp lit at every Kerala home and ceremony. Order one from Kerala, in brass or bell metal, and we pack it to travel.

NCERT and School Books

CBSE schools run in more than two dozen countries, and their children need the same NCERT books as students in India. Order them in India and we send the set on.

Sarees

Abroad you choose a saree from one rack. In India you choose from a whole country of weaves. Order to your Indian address and we send them on.

Indian Sweets

Most mithai is made with milk or ghee, and that decides where it can go. Dairy-free Indian sweets travel almost anywhere.

Indian Pickles

Vegetarian pickles travel almost anywhere. Meat and fish pickles do not. Order the brand you grew up with to your Kerala address and we send it on.

Indian Tea

The tea at home tastes different because it is a different tea. Order the brand or the estate you want to your Kerala address and we send it on.

Salwar Kameez

Everyday suits, party suits and wedding suits at Indian prices, stitched or unstitched, sent home in one box.

Bangles

Bangles bought by the dozen, in the exact colour of the outfit, at Indian prices. Order them to your Indian address and we send them on.

Written for a particular country

Where the duty rules, the sizing or the timing are different enough to need saying separately.

Shop India like you live there

A free Indian address, parcels held for 30 days and combined into one box, forwarded to you anywhere.

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