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It was a rainy autumn day in Tokyo, as my companions and I shuffled out of the Toei Chikatetsu metro line at Asakusa Station. Emerging onto the street level, we quickly opened and raised our large, red paper umbrellas, on loan from our escorts, and made our way down a few alleys to the Ohshimaya Onda Chochin Lantern Shop.

Here, we were greeted with bows by Mr. Shunji Onda himself, a fifth generation master of the Japanese paper lantern.

Mr. Onda’s business was founded 160 years ago by his great-

The Surajkund Mela is an eye-opener for the city slicker to the best skills from rural India as Thommen Jose found out. Photographs by Raushni Abraham

You reach Surajkund even before you can say ‘Surajkund Mela’. You are there even before you realise that you are in the outskirts of Delhi. For Delhi-ites used to getting into Gurgaon or Noida for work or shopping, the drive to the annual gala-mela is hardly a drive. Then, it is not exactly supposed to be one either. This little village in Haryan

Situated on the northern bank of the Red River, Kieu Ki is considered as the unique village in Vietnam still performing the standard craft of manufacturing gold leaf. The dexterity of Kieu Ki artisans is created in pagodas and temples where statues are covered with thin gold leaf.

On the road to the village, guests are able to hear locals hammering gold to provide thin sheets. Old and young people are committed to the craft. The village elders believe Kieu Ki villagers learned to form gold leaf 3