nEKAMIC STUDIO 
PLATE BORDERS 
Clara HasUngs 
THESE designs are to be carried out in gold and enamels 
either flat or raised; flat color and lustre could also be 
effectiveli' introduced. A few suggestions as to color schemes 
are as follows: 
1. Black portions of ground, flat gold scrolls and out- 
lines in raised gold; dotted ornaments, flat Turquoise enamel; 
white ornament in flat White enamels; centers of ornaments 
and jewels on rim, Turquoise. 
2. Dotted portion, tinted Cream Lustre; dark portion. 
Yellow Brown Lustre; ornaments, flat light Yellow Green 
enamel; centers, dark Blue enamel; margin tinted light Yellow 
Green; jewels on rim, Wliite; outlines, flat or raised gold. 
3. Dark portions. Rose du Barry or some pretty salmon 
pink; white ground, a cream tint; dotted portions. Grey Green; 
jewels, white and outlines gold. 
4. Dotted portions, Jonciuil Yellow; dark portions, gold; 
white portions. White enamel; gold outlines. 
WORKMAN WORSHIPS HIS TOOLS 
Festival of Sri Pancham, Singular March Observance of India 
OF all the many wonderful sights in that wonderful land of 
India, none is perhaps more striking to the European 
than the festival of Sri Panchani. Pancham is the god who 
looks after the implements of those who have to work for their 
living, and one Aay early in the year is set apart to pas'- homage 
to these implements. The night before the festival the mech- 
anic polishes up his implements If he is wont to look after a 
gas engine, he gives it a thorough overhaul, or if he be a carpen- 
ter, or a weaver or a blacksmith, he makes his tools bright and 
hxys them out for the coming mom. 
On the day of the festival the implements are festooned 
with flowers or other decorations, and during the day the relig- 
ious minded Hindu offers dainties to his tool, particular^ sweet- 
meats. "Whfle he offers the sweets he rtiutters prayers, invok- 
ing success to his future labor. 
It is wonderful how the sweetmeat enters into the life of the 
Hindu. It is eaten out of all proportion to his other food; but 
then, an Indian sweetmeat is a sweetmeat. Many a Hindu 
family lives entirely on confections, and the latter do not carry 
with them the surfeit experienced after an overdose of butter- 
scotch. The Mayara and Ilalwi castes make the confections, 
and the delicacies are highly prized by all classes of people in 
India — so much so that the deinand for them by the poorer 
families is limited only by their means. The dainties manu- 
factured and sold bj^ the Halwis require very considerable skill, 
and are verj^ costly. So it will thus be seen that the Hindu, in 
offering sweets to his implements and his gods, does the best 
within his power to pay homage to that which brings him the 
wherewithal to live. 
After the offering, tlie various castes congregate together, 
eat the sweets and hold high holiday. The higher castes, among 
whom are numbered the Government clerks, etc., pay homage 
to the items by which they get their living. At one ceremony 
some thirty clerks erected an altar on the roof of the buildings 
in which they work. Tlie altar was made of an old pacl<ing case 
draped with paper, and surmoimted by a large bottle of ink. 
Around the bottle were placed penholders, nibs, sealing wax, 
envelopes, blotting paper, and last, but not least, red tape. 
The clerks marched reverently to the ink bottle, etc., oft'ering 
them gifts of food and coins, the service concluding as usual 
with a feast of sweetmeats. Only certain castes may cat of the 
sweetmeats offered by other castes to the gods. 
It is laid down for'instance, that a Brahman umst avoid, 
if possible, eating an^^^ kind of food in the house of a Sudra (art- 
isan), and that under no circumstances is he to eat any food 
cooked with water and salt bj^ a Sudra, or touched by a Sudra 
after being cooked. 
It is interesting to note that among the " clean " Sudras arc 
weavers, sweetmeat makers, ironsmiths, goldsmiths, copper- 
smiths, braziers, carpenters, tailors and grain parchers. Among 
the manufacturing and artisan castes that are regarded as "un- 
clean" Sudras are the brewers, tadi drawers and sellers of spiritu- 
ous liquors, oil manufactui"ers, salt manufacturers, leather 
workers, mat workers and basket makers. Barbers are gen- 
eral^ regarded as "tmclean" andlaundrymenare unequivocally 
classed in the same lot, the idea being that they have a lot of 
dirty washing to do. Certain domestic servants are also classed 
as "unclean." — London Express. 
