The seller of sarees

MY FIRST MILLION/SHASHIV CHANDRAN

Forty-year-old Shashiv Chandran's love affair with textiles and different types of weaves started when he was a child. "I was fascinated by the sarees my mother wore," he says.

He went through school and college knowing that he eventually wanted to do something with textiles. Immediately after college he joined the Taj Group as a buyer for their store Khazana.

From 1987 to 1990, he worked there and travelled extensively across India purchasing textiles and handicrafts for Khazana.

But there was a lot more that he wanted to do and he finally gave shape to his passion in the form of Utsav, a saree store in Delhi which specialises in traditional cottons and silks from across the country.

Chandran started selling sarees in his garage in 1991. His initial investment was Rs 30,000 which was used to buy sarees from weavers in south India.

Today, Utsav has a client list which includes the who's who of the Delhi political circle including Sheila Dikshit and Shabana Azmi. Utsav posted a turnover of Rs 1.6 crore.

I've always been fascinated with sarees and different types of weaves. I was passionate about it but didn't really think of a formal education, primarily because in those days there was only the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. Nobody else was offering a course dedicated to textiles and designing.

I completed my graduation from Delhi University and was wondering what to do when I happened to meet someone who worked for Khazana, the Taj Hotel store.

She asked me to apply for a job there as a buyer. So for three years I worked at Khazana. The experience was great as it gave me an opportunity to interact with weavers and craftsmen from across India.

However, I quit in 1990 as I wanted to give shape to a lot of my ideas. That's when I decided to start my own saree business.

It was very difficult initially as I don't come from a business family and didn't really know the nitty-gritty of doing business. I had built contacts during my stint with Khazana but the same people treated me very differently when I went to them as an individual and not a representative of Khazana.

In the beginning I would go to weavers in South India and bring back two suitcases full of sarees. I would then call up my friends and my mother's friends and show them the sarees. For nearly a whole year, that's how I functioned.

Word of mouth has been my biggest source of publicity. Soon more and more people started approaching me for sarees and so I opened a store in my garage. I was everything from the sweeper to the managing director.

I did a couple of exhibitions in Delhi and one in Mumbai. The response was very encouraging and I felt I was on the right track. So in October 1993, I set up Utsav as a proper shop opposite Panchsheel Enclave and hired two people to look after it.

What's unique about Utsav is that most of the sarees sold are traditional sarees with a contemporary look. I do a lot of fusion, such as a traditional Kanjeevaram saree with Rajasthani tie-and-dye on it.

However, I do not believe in a thoughtless transfer of design. The uniqueness of each craft should be maintained for that is the only way we can do justice to the diversity offered by Indian sarees.

I interact directly with the weavers. This has two advantages, one I get exactly what I am looking for and two, it ensures that it is the weavers who get the money and not the middlemen.

From the business point of view, holding exhibitions in different cities in very beneficial. Not only is it profitable, it also ensures that when those people visit Delhi they come to Utsav. So our client base keeps increasing.

Utsav sarees are available at Bangalore at Ambara which is a lifestyle store and I am looking for a place in Chennai. I'm also looking at opening another store in Gurgaon.