It started innocently enough last December, when we met some friends for a leisurely weekend lunch at Alaturka, a Turkish restaurant in Kampong Gelam.
We were seated in a cosy alcove at the back of the restaurant, with intricate carpets adorning the walls and dried flowers hanging from the translucent ceiling. Interspersed throughout the desiccated flora were beautifully blue and white Turkish evil eye amulets.
They caught our friend’s eye (pun intended) and she shared with us stories of her trip to Turkey, which was the genesis of her keen interest in the amulets. Their ability to ward off evil is widely recognised, and it also doesn’t hurt that they actually look quite pretty.
After lunch, we went window shopping in the neighbourhood and saw many of them available for sale. But they weren’t particularly attractive and many of them actually looked quite dusty, a sign that they weren’t that popular.
A few months later, as we were walking to the Somerset MRT station, The Wife noticed a small pop-up store in the atrium of 313 Somerset. There were many stalls there that day, with most of them selling either food, clothes or fashion accessories.
This one though, was quite unique in that everything on display was related to the Turkish evil eye amulet. There were big ones that had to be mounted on a wall, medium ones that you could hang on the rearview mirror of your car, and smaller ones that you could wear on your body.
We took some time to browse, and the super friendly stall owner Neeta took her time to explain to us the symbolism of all the items on display, and what we should get for which specific purpose.
She shared with us about the origins of the amulet, how they’re supposed to be used and her story of how a simple hobby collecting them turned into a lifelong fascination.
Before the pandemic, she would even fly to Turkey a couple of times every year to look for new products and source for suppliers.
When we shared that we’d never been there but would like to visit someday, she provided numerous many suggestions of what to see and eat.
Her enthusiasm was so infectious that I had to bump Turkey up several rungs on our future travel list, and made a mental note to consult her when we actually start planning our trip there.
The Wife also fell under her spell and started picking up items for herself and several of her close friends. One of them was this really pretty bracelet below which, I’m not ashamed to say, if I was an accessory-wearing kinda guy, would have also bought for myself.
We spent easily more than an hour happily chatting with Neeta. When we left, I made sure to get details of her physical shop (San Marco @Roxy Square #01-52, 50 East Coast Road) and IG account (@sanmarcosingapore), which I immediately followed.
A few more months passed, and I saw an update that Neeta was going to have another pop-up store. This time at the Suntec Convention Centre for an event called the “IWA Festive Bazaar 2022”.
Coincidentally, we had made lunch reservations at a Peranakan restaurant at the Esplanade Mall, and after our meal, we decided to trek over to say hi to Neeta.
There were several events happening at the convention centre that day, and it took us a while to find the specific venue. When we got to the correct room, we did a double-take.
It was packed to the gills with fashionable Indian ladies in beautiful sarees, and we were the only Chinese people there. To be more precise, we were the only non-Indian people present.
I went to the reception table, and innocently asked: “Hi, I’m sorry, what does IWA stand for?” Because I genuinely didn’t know, and also didn’t google beforehand.
“We’re the Indian Women’s Association dear, and this is our pre-Deepavali bazaar. Welcome!” came the cheery response. A light bulb turned on in my head as I thought to myself: “So desu ne…”
In the corner of my eye, I could see The Wife trying very hard to suppress her laughter.
We entered the extremely festive event hall, and walked past numerous stores selling sarees, jewelry and Deepavali delicacies. I couldn’t help but feel slightly self-conscious being a double minority as we wandered around, soaking up the vibrant atmosphere.
If you’ve never attended the IWA Festive Bazaar before, I would urge you to actively look out for it and experience it for yourself, regardless of your ethnicity. And if you also happen to be looking for a nice saree, this is where you want to be.
After squeezing through the crowd for a while, we finally located Neeta. This time she came with reinforcements and had a helper to man the store with her. She definitely needed the extra pair of hands because it was bustling.
We chatted with her briefly, but given the large volume of customers, we didn’t want to take up too much of her time. I was specifically looking for a medium-sized amulet that we could hang on the wall facing our main door, and went through a few choices until I settled on the one below.
The Wife wasn’t planning to buy anything, but she got caught up in the whole bazaar atmosphere and picked up two small items.
A safety pin that she planned to hook on her badminton bag, and a keychain to be looped on the handle of her daily tote. In additional to several Turkish eyes, they also had Hamsa “Hand of God” amulets, for an extra layer of protection.
As we left the stall, we told Neeta that we’d try and visit her physical shop soon, and bring our mutual amulet-loving friend.
There’s nothing specific that we’re looking to buy when we’re there, but based on our track record so far, chances are good that we’ll end up with more than a few more items to add to our growing collection.
