BackDiwali Gifting Issue | Dilli Durbar
Designer Arjun Saluja takes us into the narrow lanes of Old Delhi and Nizamuddin saying that for him the fun of gifting is in discovery
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Known as a fervent upholder of androgyny in Indian fashion, designer Arjun Saluja isn’t an eager window shopper. This is his first organized Diwali shopping spree, he says. It is a hot September morning and Saluja keeps interchanging his stylish Miu Miu glasses with a pair of mint-green sunglasses as we zip in and out of stores. The multiple silver rings on both his hands get noticed everywhere. “They are from Lahore," says Saluja, adding that one of them has “the hair of Hazrat Ali", cousin and son-in-law of prophet Muhammad, ensconced behind the brownish stone. Saluja’s shopping is planned around Islamic culture because he is drawn to its architecture, the geometric designs, the poetry, jewellery, the ada (mannerisms) and the many aspects of Muslim culture that are seldom spoken about. One is Oudh ittar. Saluja tracks down the strong, woody, romantic fragrance to a specialist ittar store in Nizamuddin. The salesperson tells us that Oudh, a much sought after scent, is made from the branches of a tree found in Assam.
Even those familiar with the mystically magical area around south Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin dargah, may have never met the reluctant and ancient-looking Raees saab, who refuses even to share his second name. His nameless store is filled to the brim with antiques that would create a storm on a web portal or in a city exhibition.
Another big interest for Saluja is music and he takes us deep through the zigzag lanes of the folkloric Meena Bazar near Jama Masjid to Shah Music Centre. This is one of the few stores in the city, if not the only one, which stocks the oldest records and gramophones. Saluja goes through recordings of artistes like Reshma, Noorjehan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Bismillah Khan, among others, and settles for Farida Khanum.
Next on the list are tribal Afghani jhumkas. After peeping inside a few shops on Dariba Kalan, Purani Dilli’s, or Old Delhi’s, jewellery lane, we stumble into Dev Crafts. It’s an exciting discovery, a store all jewellery lovers must list in their little black diaries. Amit and Sumit who run this store pull out dozens of boxes containing old bracelets, Rajasthani ankle ornaments, rings, earrings and jhumkas. Saluja chooses heavy, Afghani tribal earrings with porcupine-like globes as its design and red and blue danglers.
Our next stop is KS Mathur and Co. opposite the Chandni Chowk Central Baptist Church, a dusty little store and a most unpredictable destination for haute stuff. This is Saluja’s go-to store for quirky vintage spectacle frames. Store owner Shanu dishes out numerous frames from the 1960s and 1970s styles. The shop also has a unique selection of Gandhi frames.
A shopping trip with Muslim culture in mind would be incomplete without a Kashmiri carpet, says Saluja and we arrive at New Delhi’s well-known The Carpet Cellar. As his shopping theme gets a shape, Saluja, who is accompanied by his master tailor Siraj Husain, suggests a meal at Karim’s. A “full" stop that.
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