Jewelry around the world tell stories and today, mine will entertain you with the story of Madras. August 22nd 2015, sees Chennai, the city where I live, celebrate its 376th Birthday. Fondly celebrated as “Madras Day” this was the day (in 1639) when Francis Day, a colonial administrator, struck a deal with a local ruler, the Nayak of Vandavasi over a strip of land to create a new town – Chennapattinam where Fort St George, which houses the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, stands today. Chennapattinam became “Madras” was later rechristened as Chennai in 1996.
Chennai was listed as one of the must visit places in the world in 2014 in New York times and among the top ten in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2015 guide. However Chennai is not only about Beaches, temples and shopping. Its got so many more things to do. This time last month, along with 3 of my colleagues, I gave a presentation on Chennai as a part of the orientation programme for the first year students at my college, when I talked about 25 destinations for the artistic soul in Chennai. As I am unable to upload the entire presentation here I thought that I’ll share with you, two interesting Tamil songs about Chennai that we played on that day.
The first one the “Madras song” is about a Mumbai girl who gets stuck in Chennai as she misses her flight and decides (reluctantly) to do sight seeing. This song captures the spirit of Chennai and how she enjoys some of the offbeat as well as touristy places.
This second song, Chance illa (a slang that means that there is no chance [that there is a place better than Chennai]) is by Anirudh, a music director and singer who takes you around different places in Chennai and talks about the emotions that run high in the city
Jewelry around the world- India – Chennai
I hope that you enjoyed these songs. Earlier this week, I had a chance to showcase Indian culture through a tutorial in the Jewelry Around the World series by Craft Paper Scissors and allfreejewelrymaking where designers from around the world – Egypt, Hawaii, USA, Hungary, Ecuador and ofcourse India shared jewelry ideas that were deeply influenced by their own land and theirculture. I posted a tutorial on How to make Gold Jhumkas while talking about India.
I have written many posts on how the Jhumka is the quintessential Indian jewelry that has an amazing fan following among women of different age groups on this blog before. In Tamil Nadu (my state) gold Jimkis or jhumkas are very commonly worn by young women. In fact its the most commonly worn jewelry at weddings. Since I have my cousin’s wedding coming up, I made these light weight beauties for myself. I have used simple and easily available materials like paper, gold acrylic beads, rhinestone chain and big sequins to make these statement earrings. The best part about these earrings is that they are detectable and the studs alone can be paired with western wear to make a statement.
My Jhumkas dont shake when worn as I wanted to make them detachable, but regular jhumkas do as they have small ghungroos (dangles) below the dome. See how they shake in the first video. Thanks Rozantia, for pointing it out 🙂
Here is a small picture tutorial. Please visit the CPS blog for a detailed tutorial. Do not forget to take a look at these other beautiful creations, while you are there
Jewelry around the world Itinerary
Day 1, Monday, August 17: India Inspired DIY Earrings
Day 2, Tuesday, August 18: Hawaiian Orchid DIY Earrings
Day 3, Wednesday, August 19: Great Lakes Stamped & Enameled DIY Necklace
Day 4,Thursday, August 20: Pueblo Dream Catcher DIY Earrings
Day 5, Friday, August 21: Egyptian Jewel Friendship DIY Bracelet
Day 6, Saturday, August 22: DIY Nautical Wrap Bracelet and Ecuador Inspired Fiesta Colorful DIY Bracelet
Day 7, Sunday, August 23: Hungarian Folk-Style Painted DIY Pendant Tutorial
So how did you like these earrings? Tell me in the comments if you make jewelry/crafts inspired by your country, state or culture and what is special about them. Also don’t forget to share your jewelry making skills with jewelry around the world on social media this weekend
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers
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