Monsoon special: Umbrella of nostalgia

Necessity, accessory, fashion statement... no matter what your reason, there's only so far you can get in the Indian monsoon without an umbrella. And what better than one from the country's oldest brand – Stag Umbrellas. At its milling Princess Street outlet, the 155-year-old brand, owned by Ebrahim Currim & Sons, sees hundreds of umbrellas in myriad shapes, sizes and colours fly off the racks. "This is part of our DNA. This is what we do," laughs Zamil Currim, the dapper, fifth generation owner of the brand. He remembers going to workshops playing with the bamboo sticks, helping workers hammer in nails and hold on to a fabric being fixed on the ribs.

Wonder how Ebrahim Currim would react if he found that his small kiosk, which began with repairing torn and broken umbrellas from London, has grown into such a mammoth enterprise. Once he became the only go-to person for the British and the royalty who used umbrellas, he decided to get into the business and packed off his son to the UK to learn all about umbrella making. The business and brand has grown by leaps and bounds. From Karachi (in undivided India then) to Calicut, and from Madras to Calcutta, Stag caught on like wildfire. "While the silken umbrellas on bamboo/cane frames of yore were great for the high and mighty, the man on the street wanted something rough and tough, and the first thing that changed was the fabric. Once we changed to cotton and the basic black umbrella in cotton was introduced, the brand took off."

That remained the flagship model with few changes for over a century, even appearing in some iconic Bollywood films till the 1960s when the cheap folding ones from China and Taiwan began threatening the brand. The cost of a typical umbrella dropped from about Rs100 to Rs70. As Indians snapped up imports, many old loyals mourned the demise of a great Indian brand. But no, that wasn't the Stag's swan song. "It was a rude wake-up call though," remembers Aziz Currim, Zameel's predecessor and one of Ebrahim Currim's great grandsons. "In a knee-jerk reaction we'd dropped prices and scrimped on quality hoping to tide through. Yet for the first time since the 1940s, we began bleeding. Our loyal customers were unhappy that Stag umbrellas were losing the sturdiness that we were known for and we hit rock-bottom."

Thankfully, better sense prevailed. The price war was forgotten and quality was once again brought to the best. "This meant higher prices but the customers weren't complaining. In fact, our sales actually jumped manifold." The fabric meanwhile went from silk to cotton to nylon and even polyester. Among other things done to keep abreast of competitors include changing the material used for the ribs. "From bamboo and cane, we moved to brass, which doesn't corrode, but is very expensive. We played around with steel, coating it with all kinds of paint and veneers to prevent rusting and have now begun making them in fibre which along with being free of corrosion is lightweight and comes with shape-memory," explains Zameel.

While most five stars and other outlets prefer Stag for their humongous outdoor stands that keep umbrellas all year through, the rains see the man on the street make this brand their choice — from ones with fans to cool in humid Mumbai and those with built-in high-power flashlight to help you walk unlit roads at night to models with blinkers and even an alarm. While some may call them gimmicky, Aziz defends it as a strategy to survive. "Giving the customers something new along with the promise of Stag's durability has ensured we have the edge."