Diwali melas are love. But every now and then, we crave an evening of shopping that doesn’t tire us out and leave us with dusty faces and cracked heels. This is why Dastkar, Festival of Lights, at Kisaan Haat won us over.
We strategically planned our trip on a weekday and were totally chuffed at all the beautiful knick knacks we found. Between chia seeds, handmade soap, crochet diaries, and home décor, trust us, there’s really a whole world that’s waiting to be conquered.
Stay with us as we show you all our purchases – each one close to our heart and bought on a strict INR 300 budget. If you guys are kicked, hurry and make a trip because the festival gets over on Oct 26.
Hand Painted Mugs
Right as you step into the Kisaan Haat, you'll see a section on your left filled with colourful Indian ceramics - plates, photo frames, vases, bowls, coasters, pickle jars, and much more. Being the major tea addicts that we are, we just had to pick up a pair of their rustic looking mugs for our morning cuppa.
Stall No: This is the first makeshift, open air shop as you enter.
How Much: INR 200 each
Kashmir Lavender Flowers & Papaya Soap
If you, like us, love handmade, organic bath and beauty products, you're going to have a gala time at All Naturals. They were stocked with hair and body oils, fancy bath salts, and Ayurvedic teas, amongst other things. The best part? They were all super reasonable priced.
We sniffed and shuffled around and finally picked the dried lavender flowers {which can be used both as tea and bath soaks!} and a papaya soap.
Stall No: C 2
How Much: Lavender flowers for INR 199 and handmade papaya soap for INR 100
Rose Chamomile Tea
This stall had some of the prettiest looking teas, so if you still have some Diwali presents to buy, these would be great. They had quite a selection at the counter, so it'd be best to pick up something to suit your taste.
We bagged the rose-chamomile version and might pick up one of the turmeric infusions on our next trip {hell yeah, there's going to be a second trip!}.
Stall No: C 7
How Much: INR 200 for the rose-chamomile tea
Hot Air Balloon Light
Have you ever seen lamps in the shape of hot air balloons? Neither had we until we stepped into the Greeneera stall. Made of cane and paper, these lamps were absolutely affordable and are sure to add a funky touch to our room.
Stall No: 8
How Much: INR 300
Wooden Bird Wall Hangings
Hailing from the Raghurajpur district in Puri, Odisha, Swastik had a plethora of decorative masks, vases, kettles, and other home decor items, all handmade and painted with native artwork. We saw beautiful kettles we didn't know we needed {which cost about INR 900 apiece}, but owing to our shoe-string budget, we picked up a couple of these pretty wooden bird wall/door hangings.
Stall No: 11
How Much: INR 150 for a string
Two-Set Coaster Set
We learnt that FroggMag products have found their way to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, National Museum and FabIndia so if you're one for exclusivity, this is the place to look up. We spent a lot of time here and finally found these coasters that followed us home.
Stall No: 30
How Much: INR 250
Crochet Dairy
Insha-e-Noor was a reminder of a great childhood with all the neatly piled crochet products that were calling out to us. We were torn between the crochet earrings and these diaries, but decided to go with the latter because we're basically stationery hoarders.
Stall No: 16
How Much: INR 150
Beaded Trinket Box
Ladakh Art and Craft was a riot of colours and we couldn't resist this trinket box that we thought was perfect to keep all our silver earrings from getting entangled. Not a jewellery person? They have an amazing collection of beaded bags as well.
Stall No: 17
How Much: INR 300
Artisanal Honey
Little Green Yard was glowing with fairy lights and when we saw organic lip balms and bath salts, we just had to stop by. If you're into organic foods, you'll be in heaven {we found chia seeds at almost half the price}. As for us, we picked up a Jamun Honey because, hey, winter's coming and our regular breakfast and green tea can do with some novel honey taste.
Stall No: 34
How Much: INR 190-270 for 250gm jars
Watering Can Planter
For all them green thumbs that don't have the luxury of a sprawling lawn, we suggest these pint-sized planters from Grecor that enliven any dull windowsill. The brand also does really nice nature-inspired furniture if your balcony is interested.
Stall No: 36
How Much: INR 200
Photos: Ipsita Nayak/LBB
Recommended by Rene Verma and Ipsita Nayak.
