From British Royalty to Madonna: Dilli's affair with bangles

A family in the walled city reminisces of way back when the retinue of King George V and his Queen Mary made its way through Delhi’s Chandni Chowk to the royal durbar for his coronation as Emperor of India in 1911. The Churiwala family’s connection with the British monarchy began in 1877. The family has been in the business of bangles since 1823, says Babu Churiwala, at his glittering bangle store in a South Delhi market. The original Babu Churiwala shop is, of course, in the Mughal-era Chandni Chowk market, nestled below an exquisite two-storey building that stands out from the chaos of shops that surround it. “A canal flowed through Chandni Chowk in those days. That is why this place is called Balli Maran (colony of boat rowers). Even now, if you were to dig deep into the ground below our shop, you will find water,” says the affable khadi-clad great grandson of Abdul Haq, the man who started it all. “In the olden days, bangles were not sold in shops. We would go to the houses to sell bangles. In Chandni Chowk, there used to be havelis. And we would go to the havelis to sell bangles,” says Babu. [caption id=“attachment_153767” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The original Babu Churiwala shop in Ballimaran, in Delhi’s Mughal-era Chandni Chowk market. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost”] [/caption] The Mughals were generous patrons. The Nila Gumbad — reportedly Delhi’s oldest Mughal-era ruin, located in the neighbourhood of the Dargah of Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya — was a gift to the family. “The Nila Gumbad used to be a Manihari Mahal. (Manihars are a community of traditional bangle-makers). It was given to our ancestors. In those days, our patrons gave us gifts in return for our bangles. There was no money exchange.” From the Mughals to the British Empire to the leading political families of Independent India – the rich and powerful of India’s capital have always been the patrons of the Churiwala family. For former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s wedding, it was Babu Churiwala’s father who provided the bangles. Pointing to a black and white photograph, Babu says, “This is my father displaying bangles for Indira Gandhi for her wedding, as Jawaharlal Nehru looks on.” The most testing time for the Churiwala family came with the partition of India in 1947. “Ours was the only shop in Ballimaran that survived. Our shop in Paharganj was gutted. My grandfather was a freedom fighter. He participated in the Quit India movement,” says Babu. “We will live and die here. He who does not love his country, cannot love his mother,” he adds. [caption id=“attachment_153770” align=“alignright” width=“250” caption=“Mohammad Ishaq, seen here with his bangles at Ballimaran’s Babu Churiwala shop, belongs to a family that has been selling bangles for 188 years. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost”] [/caption] Babu tells of the fashion trends in the earlier days when glass bangles were the rage. He displays bangles featuring a design that is 45-years-old – red glass bangles dotted with gold. “The more you wash them, the more they shine.” When gold was still cheap (till the 1960s), glass bangles were polished with gold. “The tails of squirrel were used to make brushes to paint the bangles gold. All squirrels in Agra at that time were tailless,” he jokes. “There were only five or six colours of bangles back then. Now the demand is for matching and glitter bangles.” Unsurprisingly, Babu Churiwala is much sought after by the rich and famous in the West. “Madonna is a very good customer of ours. We have shipped a lot of bangles to her. She is a big fan of Hindustani items,” he says. From one anna for a dozen to Rs 2,000 for one bangle – Delhi of 1911 is a world apart from the Delhi of 2o11. And through all the drama, the Churiwala family has not only survived but flourished. In their story also lies the story Delhi.