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Noor Fatima Sultan Khan talks to Farida Khanum about her favourite place to relax

As I entered the TV lounge I saw Farida ji wearing a turquoise linen shalwar kameez. She had draped a beige shawl around her shoulders. The persistent glimmer in her eyes, her rosy complexion, as well as the poise and grace that sends hearts reeling, was accompanied by an extremely warm greeting. As I drew my diary out of my bag she looked at me with affection and prayed: May you get success. I stood up and kissed her forehead. Farida ji is one of those who makes everyone around her feel happy, no matter the difference in age or background.

Noor Khan: Farida ji, you have so many windows in your house. But every time I’ve seen you in your home, I’ve seen you sitting here. Is there something special about this window?

A five-second pause after which Farida ji intones Munir Niazi’s ghazal: Chaman main rang-e-bahar utra tau mainay daikha, nazar se dil ka ghubaar utra tau mainay dekha

Farida Khanum: Every crack of dawn when I wake up, I come and sit here. Outside this window is the tree that my mother sowed with her own hands. Once I told her to axe it and she said, “Farida, don’t ever chop this tree!” This tree is 48years old. It was my mother’s beloved mango tree. Every time I sit here, I feel close to my mother because all the flowers and plants in my garden were planted by her. Every time I eat mangoes off this tree, I miss her. In the early days, when she would cook a meal, I would stand beside her and learn how to cook. She’d often say: “Farida, first stir fry onions till they are golden and add the masala in the end only, otherwise it will burn.” This window and the sight outside this window is a mirror image of my mother’s memories.

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“Often I observe a squirrel on my mango tree. I laugh when I see how the squirrel dodges the cat and runs up the tree with food”

NK: You’ve talked about flowers in your garden, which flowers are you fond of?

FK: Rose and nargis. I love heavily-scented flowers. We have raat ki rani outside this window. In my childhood, I used to like its smell and used to inquire which flower or plant it was. I was told, “Aye jee raat di rani aye.” Since then I have it planted. I get upset if any plant of mine gets scorched. I have always wanted to have a garden in my house where I could plant flowers myself. I’m very grateful to Allah that He has blessed me. I find nature and nature’s blessings in flowers.

NK: People go and things remain. You must value this tree a lot.

FK: I deeply value this tree and all those things that are related to my mother. May Allah bless her with Jannat ul Firdous. Ameen.

In the late 50s

With Akbar Ali Khan

Photo from the 70s

At the studio

“Outside this window is the tree that my mother sowed with her own hands. Once I told her to axe it and she said, ‘Farida, don’t ever
chop this tree!’”

NK: Which recollections jog your memory when you sit here?

FK: I miss my mother and my sister when I sit down here. When I relax here, I think about them. My sister had great qualities. She found for me Ustaad Ashiq Ali Khan sahib and made me take riyaaz from him. She used to compliment me for having a melodious voice. I remember my childhood riyaaz with Ustaad Ashiq Ali Khan sahib when I look out the window, I remember how during the practice I used to play with the matchstick box. Sometimes I played with my dupatta and when Ustaad sahib used to tell me off I’d put my dupatta under his shoe!

NK: Why does this window, particularly, draw your attention?

FK: This window and the sight outside this window relaxes me, it brings me near to nature. Often I observe a squirrel on my mango tree. I laugh when I see how the squirrel dodges the cat and runs up the tree with food. I like watching the squirrel. In early days, I used to hope to have a garden with flowers of different sorts, I’d think of planting such and such flowers. And now, when I look out my window and see my garden, I feel very joyful.

A young Farida Khanum

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With her tambura

“I remember how during practice I used to play with the matchstick box. Sometimes I played with my dupatta and when Ustaad sahib used to tell me off I’d put my dupatta under his shoe!”

NK: Which old memories do you remember sitting here?

FK: Childhood days, old talks. Once I drove to a Picture house with my kids to watch a 3pm movie. It was so hot that my youngest daughter’s nose started bleeding. After this incident, I never took them to watch a 3pm movie. Also, my son would never sleep unless I’d take him around in a car. After a round, when we used to come back home, he’d be sleeping in the car.

NK: What time do you sit here and do you also rehearse here?

FK: Beta, I sit here most of the time, this is my most preferred place. Whenever I’m stressed, I come here and think and ask for Allah’s help. I was doing riyaaz before you came.

Sisters Nickie and Nina pay tribute to the inspiration in their lives

1. For this recent bridal collection, what inspired you?

Nickie: Hameeda Bano, our mother, is the inspiration for this collection and the greatest inspiration in our lives. She is a very strong woman with deeply-thought out values. I think the perspective she’s given us is that we need to be strong and yet not to forget our feminine side.

Nina: Strong women, particularly those facing hardships, have always influenced our collections. One collection was influenced by the strength of Swati women and the difficulties and pain they had to endure during the war. Our Sindhi collection was influenced by the women of Sindh and Thar and what they have to go through living life in the desert. Our Turkish collection was centered on a Turkish queen. Our collection Katcha Taanka was taken from the life of a circus woman and her hardships: how the girls and women, after performing, have to leave and give food to their families when the circus is dismantled.

We believe that a woman’s garment is best understood by a woman. This is the basic strength behind the label: a woman understands best how to dress another woman. We also believe that a woman has to wear many hats, which is to say she has to multitask. In a sense, she has no choice but to live a holistic life.

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‘Our collection Katcha Taanka was taken from the life of a circus woman and her hardships: how the girls and women, after performing, have to leave and give food to their families when the circus is dismantled’

2. What’s it like working together? How often do you fight or disagree?

Nina: The connection between us sisters is so strong because we share the same mother! She has been a pillar of support for us all our lives. The emotion that comes across in the collection is mutual. Everybody’s been telling us how good this collection is. But it’s the result of years of absorbing the wisdom imparted to us by our mother. As young kids, we used to sew and stitch and knit. Even today our mother gives us advice on what to wear. Because our father died when we were very young, she as a single mother taught us how to do the chores in the house and made us go out in the world to work.

We encourage women to work at our factory, we facilitate them and we understand their problems. When we started out, our kids were young and we had to balance work with household chores, the demands of our husbands and our in-laws. So we understand the many issues women face.

With regard to the fights, yes, of course we fight — we are human! We argue and we put our own points of view forward in very strong ways, but we are also quick to accept and understand the other’s opinion. There are no egos involved.

Next year, we are celebrating 25 years!

3. Are there any fabrics we should keep an eye out for this upcoming season?

Nina: Sheer fabrics coupled with rich textures are a trend you want to incorporate in your ensembles this season

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As young kids, we used to sew and stitch and knit. Our mother and khala were known for cutting ghararars

4. Velvet has come back in a big way this year. Any fabrics that are your personal favourites when it comes to this collection and why?

Nina: Velvet has definitely come back this season. As our A/W silhouette is mostly sleek and flowy, our favourite fabrics have to be silk net and organzas paired with rich velvet appliqués. Another fav at NN has to be the velvet & jamawar embellished shawls that we have introduced that instantly enhance and enliven any outfit.

5. Is fashion buying swaying towards prêt or bridal? Which do you think is taking over the other and why? And does this affect your design decisions?

Nickie: Not to say it’s swaying towards either, but there has been a considerable rise in the number of people who purchase prêt and luxury prêt now. It mostly has to do with the limitation of time on the part of the consumer and the availability of fashionable prêt in the market that has brought about this change.

At NickieNina, we have clearly differentiated between a bridal, couture and ready-to-wear piece and take pride in giving our consumer a look from the ramp, simply off the rack. Our design philosophy for prêt incorporates wearability, fashion and particularly to keep the ramp look in the ready-to-wear we produce, in that order.

6. Why NickieNina, what sets you apart from the others?

Nina: We’ve revived the old cuts and paired them with modern elements. Our family was known for being expert in the old style of cuts, our mother and khala were known for cutting ghararars. Our khala was married into an old Urdu speaking family from Lucknow and she knew the old cuts of the farshi gharara and the Delhi pajama and all the other ghararas. So as young children, we had seen them cut ghararas for people. We got3 training from them as young kids and later, we got our mother, our khala and our maami to come and train our tailors. In the olden days, the ghararas were worn with see-through shirts and with a small embellished blouse underneath. We’ve adapted that in our own style and made elaborate backs for these blouses.

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