Bright prospects

In the full year of the pandemic, Fabindia saw its operative revenue fall by about a third, which still put it above the Rs.1,000 cr mark. Their profits nosedived and the bottomline turned red, though. It was only to be expected, with many of their 309 stores across the country remaining closed for a significant part of the year. But this has been a small setback in the growth of this 62-year old firm. Started by an American, John Bisell, in 1960 as a home-furnishings exporter, Fabindia today retails fabrics, garments, furniture, foods and personal care products. The idea of the firm is to provide a platform for traditional garment (and handicrafts, furniture, foods) makers. They have been doing it successfully enough to contemplate an IPO; given the choppy state of the stock markets today, that IPO which was scheduled to open on February 27 this year, has been pulled back. 

Chennai's first Fabindia store - for a very long time, the only one in the city - was opened on Woods Road sometime in the 1990s. It was in a building that was built sometime in the early 20th century and had an old-world charm, but also the staid feel that goes with some of such spaces. Over the past 10-15 years, many more outlets were opened in Chennai. 

One such was this one at the junction of TTK Road and Eldams Road. It is a 4-storey building completely dedicated to Fabindia and has all its products, including a cafe on the top floor. Sitting up there, it is a decent view of the roads below, and looking on to the CP Ramaswamy Iyer Road flyover. It is also a nice view from below, once the lights come on. With a lot of glass on its facade, we can look right in to the products on display and the chic people shopping there!

 

Sparkling bright

What with all the bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad over the past few days, taking photographs in public seems to be a rather adventurous pastime. In Chennai too, police have been placed on the alert. Thankfully, that does not seem to have hampered the regular activities of the city; things seem to be going on just fine.

Including the afternoon showers. A couple of sharp spells last afternoon cooled down the city without seriously inconveniencing anyone. The dark clouds put the raintrees to sleep earlier than usual, so when the sun came back at around 6 o'clock in the evening, it had a little more space to shine through on to a damp Eldams Road.

Wish things could stay this way, without threats of bombings or retaliations!

New York, New York

I really didn't have too many excuses to not visit The Landmarks of New York. My best excuse was trumped when these landmarks came to Chennai; and they came so close to where I work, that I could not miss them even if I wanted to. There were about 80 of these landmarks, all in black and white, framed, with descriptions on the cultural, historic or architectural significance of these. All of them were photos taken by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, who was at one time chairperson of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Foundation.

The photographs themselves were excellent, but what was more impressive was the idea of a 'Landmarks Law'. In essence, a building that's over 30 years qualifies to be a landmark, if it can be demonstrated that it has a lasting cultural, aesthetic or historic value, is declared a landmark and protected from demolition. All the while, the owners of such buildings can continue to use and maintain their properties. Today the New York City Landmarks Law covers not only buildings, but also signs, neighbourhoods and public use land.

Maybe the existence of such legislation could have deterred the state Public Works Department from demolishing the 250 year old Government House last month. The demolition went ahead with only a few protests, mainly because the building was set back inside the Omandur estate, shielded from public view. There are many more such vulnerable structures in Chennai, that could well do with the protection provided by a 'Landmarks Law'!

Something more than 'very fine'?

When this sign came up outside a house on Chittaranjan Road, it seemed like someone had started a part-time business from a garage. Within a couple of days, the same sign was outside a shop on Eldams Road - now it looked like they meant business! But expanding so quickly?

Discovered later that M'zuri Sana - the internet tells me it means 'very fine', but I'm sure I was given a different (and better sounding) interpretation of this Swahili phrase at the store - is a chain founded by a person from Jodhpur, with stores in many cities. That was surprising, but more surprising was the variety of merchandise that was on display, from lampshades to garments. Quite a nice range to look at - and the people at the store let you take your time.

I will be back there soon, even though I have a crib about the store. With a name like M'zuri Sana, one walks in expecting to take back something distinctly African. But every one of the items is robustly Indian in design - and all of them have been crafted at M'zuri Sana's Jodhpur workshops!