Tradition never goes out of fashion

Basava Ambara, located in one of Bangalore’s oldest neighbourhoods, Basavanagudi, occupies the outhouse of a beautiful heritage home. The store features a handpicked selection of merchandise that comes from a cross section of designers and craftspeople, jewellery designers, leather craftsmen, antique collectors and designers. The store is soon becoming a lifestyle destination in the city and we speak to co-owner Venkataram Reddy about the idea behind the store and what keeps them going…

How did Basava Ambara come into existence?
The store has been around for quite some time, but recently it went through some hard times. A friend of mine and I, decided to take over the property and give it a face life, redefining it as a chic, upmarket and niche destination for people who love all things ethnically and traditionally Indian.

Was it hard to break into that mould of being a back-to-roots kind of store?
Not at all, I am a connoisseur of all things old myself, so this was just an extension of sorts for me. The collections featured in the store are products that I would myself collect or aspire towards owning and that makes it a whole lot easier to deal with as a businessman or even as a connoisseur.

Since a lot of the products you feature are unique and probably singularly available at the store, how do you ensure quality?
We are a store for new desi designers and often more than not, the quality is a given with their products. For the other harder to access products, we ensure we go right to the source and choose our products. Our saris for example, are right from weaver cooperatives across rural Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, while our lacquer-ware is sourced right from the individual makers in Channapattana.

How do you ensure you have a clientele who chooses to come back to you?
An innovation in design is something that interests me and so we often provide products in materials that will not be found anywhere. Like for example, our lacquer-ware products are suited to more modern requirements and so we ask the artisans to make things that will sell — such rethinking and re-presenting of old forms in new avatars, ensures that our customer comes back to us.

How has the store been faring so far?
We’re a niche market and keeping that in mind, we’re doing pretty well. What reassures us at every stage however is the increased attention that traditional products are getting in mainstream markets.