Shopping for dhotis

One of my coworkers has offered to teach me how to wear a dhoti, but before he can do that, I have to own one. So, today I set off in search of a dhoti. My general idea was to head towards Abids and hope to get lucky.  And so I did - and found myself  in Bazar Ghat, the eastern end of Rai Janakiprasad Road, west of the Hyderabad train station. There are tons of clothing stores in this area. I came home with two dhotis (@ Rs. 95 each), a lungi (Rs. 85) and a very nice hand-embroidered long khurta (Rs. 550; I probably could have pushed lower, but the price seemed reasonable...). Once I learn how to wear the dhotis (they are just large rectangles of cloth...) I'll try to get a few pictures.

The pictures I did take on today's ride have nothing to do with my shopping. I met these three creatures just around the corner from my house.





The last shot is another in the "funky sign" series. There are a lot of "famous X" stores in Hyderabad, and I'm starting to collect them.