In Ashok Nagar district in northern Madhya Pradesh state, nestled in hills, surrounded by forests and lakes and scattered with historic monuments, is the charming town of Chanderi. It is one of two towns in the state famous for its weaving heritage – the other is Maheshwar, which you can read about here. I took the awkward journey from Maheshwar where I was staying long term for my research, which involved a bus to Indore, a delayed train from Indore to Ashoknagar and from there a local bus along badly maintained roads (or damaged by recent rains), to Chanderi. At one point we passed a bus that had tipped off…