Ellu bella for Sankranti: our January boxes
The sesame, jaggery and sugar figures of Makara Sankranti, and how we pack them for families who exchange them.
A gift shopper’s Saturday in Malleswaram
Flowers on 8th Cross, temple streets, filter coffee and our packing room: a short walk round the neighbourhood we work in.
Malleswaram is one of the oldest planned neighbourhoods in Bengaluru, and still one of the easiest to shop on foot. If you are coming to collect a hamper or build one with us, here is how we would spend a Saturday morning around it.
Start early on 8th Cross, before ten, when the flower sellers have fresh jasmine, marigold and kanakambara laid out on the pavement. A few strings of jasmine tucked into a hamper on the day of delivery smell wonderful when the lid comes off. Then walk along Sampige Road, where small shops sell steel and brass vessels, puja items and silk blouse pieces, all useful for return gifts.
The temple streets near 15th Cross are quieter, with old houses, wide trees and small bakeries selling rusks and plum cake that make good additions to a box. Stop for a filter coffee at one of the darshinis on the way; most open by seven.
Finish at our room on 8th Main, open from 10 am. Bring what you have bought and we will build it into a hamper with sweets from the morning batch, a note in your hand or ours, and ribbon to match. Building a box with you there takes about twenty minutes. Parking is tight on Saturdays, so the Sampige Road metro station, a short walk away, is the easier way in.
