The upholstery is done inside. The worker brings his own sewing machine
Shopping for a sari.
The dye shop
The dyed cloth hanging out to dry
The ribbon shop
The shoe shop is tiny so the stock is kept under the roof. The salesman shouts out Number ... red size .. snd the stockman throws them down. I always thought one day that box is going to hit a customer but the many times I went into the store that salesman never missed a catch.
My hotel had a group of ladies in traditional clothes working in the lobby. Their job was to attend to the needs of the tourists.
I had a large office on the lower level and some of them would come down to take a break occasionally.
To get out of the hotel they would offer to take me to the local market and of course, I’m always up for a trip to a market! The markets are crazy. The stores are very tiny. probably the size of the lobby of my living room and very very crowded with merchandise. Each little store specializing in one item. The button shop was a particular favorite of mine people.
One thing that always fascinated me it was the sari market because by the side of the fabric stores were the people that dyed the tops that went with the saris.
The lady would pick her sari fabric then go next door and buy a top and buy some miraculous combination of dies right there outside the door her top would be dyed to perfectly match the sari. It would hang to dry for a little while and she would return and pay a small amount of money for the service and Off she would go.
The tailor with his treadle sewing machine