Paan Mandi: Mr India

LAHORE:

Bollywood stars are icons in Pakistan, from their dialogue and their dance moves all the way to the colour and cut of their clothes, this is not limited to the leading ladies of the industry; this time it’s the men and their version of ‘retail therapy’. When it comes to the wedding dress, almost everybody wants to look their best - often times that means emulating your favorite movie star. Getting Indian clothing in Pakistan might cost a lot of money, however, Paan Mandi, Lahore’s mini India, has a solution to this problem.

An alley market in Anarkali Bazaar, Paan Mandi is also known as mini India. It offers a glimpse into the Indian bazaar culture and provides almost all Indian products ranging from cosmetics to medicines and eatables to clothes.

“Embroidered, colourful ‘shalwar qameezs’ have always been popular with the ladies, however, now the men also want similar garments for wedding ceremonies,” says Muhammad Imran, who has a wide range of Indian clothing at his shop in Paan Mandi. Citing the reason for this he says, “This is primarily because of the influence of Indian cinema and TV. Sometimes it’s really surprising for us when aged men in their 60s come and ask for a particular ‘kurta’ that a particular actor wore in some Indian drama or film. Many men even know the names of the various garments that earlier used to be a women’s forte. Wedding season is coming to an end, even with the mercury rising, cloth merchants are enjoying the final days of the peak business — selling embroidered clothes. The season has changed and so have our men. They are now comfortable wearing embroided ‘kurta’s’ in bright colors and styles. All credit definitely goes to the cable network”.

Imran said that designer kurta shalwars was a luxury for many people, adding that many young men preferred buying Indian styled kurta’s and get them stitched by showing the latest catalogues to the tailor. “We keep updating our catalogues and posters. People photograph the latest designs with their mobile phones, buy fabric of their choice to show the tailor. We also have specialist tailors who are skilled enough to make a carbon copy of the catalogued styles,” he explained.

Indian raw silk, cotton, muslin, new style clothing called ‘mittwa’ are popular these days, he said.

An interesting fact about Paan Mandi is that almost all the shopkeepers migrated from India and set up their businesses after 1947. According to a former president of the Paan Mandi Traders Association, most of the products at the bazaar are brought by the ‘Khepia’ (A professional luggage carrier who frequently travels between two countries). He said: “Indian suiting is relatively less expensive and more colorful in design and pattern that’s why many men come here to buy their traditional dresses for the weddings. The durability however isn’t as good as Pakistani fabric”.

Junaid Ahmad, a costumer at one of the shops at Paan Mandi, said, “The colorful kurta’s are very trendy and the prices are also economical. This is a good place to shop especially for weddings”.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2011.