Speaking Archaeologically™

Having had more than 2 months off of SA, it was time to get back to work. And, what better way of doing it than working on a topic that relates to you and your region, and with a partner you are more than happy to work with(yes, I do mean Rakshanda Thakur!). So, we started to work with a rather uncharacteristic way, before time. Most of the early work involved discussions that were more familiar situations on not talking about actual work.  Time went by, it was the final day before submission. We had read all that we could, went to museums and handloom stores, met with people, interviewed them,  shared our findings, so it was finally time to ask Shriya to repeat the briefing she gave us at the start of the task! Finally, after the much needed push from her began the writing part.   Work was divided as it usually is by this stage in a task, it was time to translate our knowledge into words. With a partner who is as comfortable and familiar with a topi...

Fabric on Display When the word ‘Silk’ is mentioned, it immediately conjures an image of waves of light and luxurious fabric in bright jewel colours. However, when I get to talk about the ‘Silk Workshop’ of Speaking Archaeologically , all that I may ponder upon is the golden-mauve Thai Silk costume or the Chinese emerald-green Silk dress. After a series of written tasks, team tasks and Museum visits, the Silk Workshop acted as a source of recreation. The workshop was held in MCM DAV College, Chandigarh (Firstly, because the College staff calls it Shriya’s second home and secondly because more than half of the volunteers were students of this college,) A powerpoint presentation was prepared to highlight SA’s journey so far, it’s aim, achievements and all the activities that the volunteers were involved in.  Athira and Tarannum in  the traditional Chinese and Thai National Dresses    As I entered the Conference room, (the venue), the first ...