Banjara women among the sunflowers.

Team Maiwa is in Southern India at the moment doing some research on the Banjara. It has been a week now, going from thanda to thanda. A thanda is a Banjara settlement. Historically these were temporary as the Banjara were nomadic, but increasingly thandas are becoming more permanent. We have been tremendously fortunate to be able to travel for a little while with Jan and Laxmi Duclos. Jan has lived most of his life in India and his wife, Laxmi Naik Duclos, is herself a Banjara woman and a master of the art of embroidery.

Tomorrow we leave Karnataka. Our days have been humid, dusty, and absolutely incredible.

Women bring out their embroidery to talk about patterns, mirrors, and cowries.

Jan has led us to some beautiful houses also, with wooden beams and traditional structures.