An Interview in the lanes of Chandni Chowk

Delicate embroiders like lace, thread work, embellishment, borders, stonework and gold/silver work is what you will find the moment you set foot into Kinari Bazaar.

“Modern Ways” is the shop I interviewed; it deals in kinaries/borders. A small shop situated in the lanes of chandni chowk; kinari bazaar. 

When I walked in the owner was busy doing his work, and asked me “what I wanted?” I told him I was a student of Pearl Academy, visiting chandni chowk for research purposes. He then told me “I could come back after about half an hour and then he would answer all my questions.”

After about 40 minutes when I returned to the shop I realized that the person I spoke to was no longer there, instead someone else was present. On speaking to him I came to know that he was also the owner of the shop and the son of the person I had previously spoken to. He then told me that his father had left as he had to take care of some work, so I decided to interview him.

I told him I was a college student and was here to do some research on kinari bazaar; he decided to answer all my questions.

The first thing I did was look around and observe his shop, the work on the kinaries, how he kept all his stuff, how he stored his products. He kept his products in cabinets with glass doors and he also stored extra borders or kinaries in plastic bags behind the counter.

Prabhu Kumar

 While talking to him I asked him his name, he told me his name was “Prabhu Kumar”.  

He told me that had been working in this business for nearly 18-20 years. The shop itself had been run by 4 generations of the Kumar family, maybe in the same business but a bit different as they had changed their product according to customer needs.

During the conversation Mr. Kumar also told me that majorly the customers demanded borders which had hand work, because they are prettier and the work done on the borders is delicate.

 Mr. Kumar also told me that earlier they dealt only in “Gota Patti work”. Now the shop sells borders/kinaries which are mainly used in Indian wear; saris, lehngas and suites.

Hand work: 9m rolls sole at Rs100/- m

The only problem faced by him is traffic, as he travels by car from Preet Vihar to chandni chowk, then walks from the parking area to his shop. Also “modern Ways” faces storage problems because the shop is small and there isn’t enough space to put everything. They have a godown, but it’s not nearby, thus they keep a little extra in the shop.

I asked him how many customers does he get on an average, “There is no specific number of customers. It varies from day to day.” is the reply I got.

After leaving his shop I realise that one must change according to and with time; just like “Modern Ways” which changed its needs according to its customers need. This is what everyone must learn to do, at least I did.