A home in transition

Couturier Suneet Varma's home is sparse, to counter the excesses of his professional life.

Fashion designer Suneet Varma's home is in transition. After he had to shut his factory and shift it to Noida, a suburb of Delhi, Varma moved from his Gurgaon (another Delhi suburb) home to a rented place in New Friends Colony. Make no mistake, this rented pad is no hole in the wall: it is comparable to Varma's former pad. His Gurgaon house had six bedrooms; this one, says Varma jokingly as we sit down to chat in his living room, is "big enough to film the movie Goal in." (Goal is the just-released film on football.)

Space is Varma's thing. His living room in Gurgaon had a 40-foot ceiling. Says Varma of his penchant for space, "I like biggish spaces and sparse spaces. I also like spaces with natural light." Delving into this insight he says, "Maybe I like spaces because my life is so excessive. I travel excessively, my collections are excessive-looking "" I guess all my excesses are in my work. In my personal life I like sparseness."

The house is all about space. Walk into the guest bathroom on the first floor and space is again the leitmotif. Goal could indeed have been shot here, I tell Varma of the bathroom. What does a single man do with this much space? "I have family that comes over to stay often and my house is open to my friends. My house is open to people to stay over even for people I don't know." Varma recounts how his father would do the same and would return home with strangers who were then accorded the best hospitality and then dropped to their destinations. Says Varma, "I am like my father. I believe that you have to open your heart to all the good energy and you do get something good. I am a person's person." Varma's open-house policy and generosity of spirit makes his fondness for large spaces and sparseness more than just an indulgence.

'I love colour," declares Varma as we shift to the first floor of the house, where a red sofa takes centrestage by the sheer force of its colour. It's a dramatic contrast to the quiet neutrals of the living room. But the red is offset with black lacquered tables from Vietnam and two black stools bought from a New York store. Two large wooden candlestands atop the black table, these from Cochin, add drama to this room. "At one point I was a lot into Christian art," he says. "I collected a lot of candelabras and Christian art but I don't do it anymore." Taking that train of thought further, he says, "I think I don't have the need to acquire things anymore."

A thought in clear contradiction to his calling. Fashion is all about acquiring the newest look, the hottest trend. Clarifies Varma, "I can easily separate my work life from my personal life." This, he says, is true when it comes to shopping for clothes as well. He says, "I have to remind myself that I have to indulge myself in some retail therapy." Often retail therapy sessions are for buying gifts for his sister or nieces who are due to visit him soon.

Varma's passion for fitness is also well represented in the house. His room has a gym set right next to his bed and he says, laughing, "I literally roll off my bed and start exercising. My trainer comes at 6.30 every morning, five days a week." And Varma, past his 40th birthday, has an enviable body. The pain of early morning workouts has in no small measure paid off.

Though Varma is committed to this address for a few years, he's already contemplating his future abode. He says of the move from Gurgaon back to Delhi: "My dogs were quite depressed for a few days. I was quite worried at that time." The dogs now seem well-adjusted to their new lodgings and, says Varma of his pug Mario, "He thinks I am living in his house." Indeed, in the short span of time that we spend in the Varma residence, Mario takes the time to throw a tantrum and moves away from Varma at one point, indicating that we have interrupted his nap with our animated conversation punctuated by loud laughter. There's just no pleasing the dog of the house!

Varma's interest in space also extends to the garden. "I have had a green thumb since childhood," he says, and points out all the work he is doing in the garden of his new home. "I always wanted a garden or two as I also have two dogs and it's not fair on them to be in flats. Gardens are very important for me," he says.

Varma says that he believes in a line from Tolstoy which goes something like this: "Make home nowhere and find home everywhere." After a visit to Varma's home, this seems to be quite apt.