CHENNAI: Whether it is ethnic and Western clothing you seek, handmade dreamcatchers, jewellery, decor, or even bottles of oil, there was a stall for everything at the Duchess Utsav 2021, an endeavour by the Duchess Club, in association with the Green Goddesses. The first floor of Savera Hotel was lined with kiosks arranged into a temporary marketplace on Wednesday.
The annual festival made its comeback for its 20th edition with fervour, after having lost the previous year to the pandemic. “Now that Utsav is back, it seems like life is happy and joyful. The Duchess Club has always been supportive of talented people,” announced Suhasini Maniratnam, a long-time ally of the club, as she cut the inauguratory ribbon in the presence of the founders of The Duchess Club and other guests.
The long wait, however, has only added to the anticipation of the event, according to co-founder Sujata Mundhra. “We have a loyal customer base who shop here. The unique thing is that you get everything under one roof. It’s satisfying to see budding entrepreneurs grow, especially women. Many of them at the Utsav started their venture during the pandemic and launched their brick and mortar interaction here. Most of the entrepreneurs, who began by showcasing their work at the Ustav, have their own stores now,” she said. The Utsav also included budget items, and entrepreneurs from several cities, including Varanasi, Mumbai, and Delhi.
With a new year came new beginnings. Co-founder Anju Agarwal launched her new book A beginner’s guide to Home Gardening: The Natural Way, including illustrations by Anchal Sandeep Bansal. An avid gardener, Anju has included 30 unique and natural ways of using household food waste and DIY ideas for self-sufficiency and holistic garden management.
“I really began focusing on the book during the lockdown. I started gardening at a young age when my parents and I were growing veggies in our home garden and continued the tradition when I shifted to Chennai from Mumbai. I’ve been associated with the Green Goddesses (a Savera Hotel initiative) for the past two years and there could be no better platform than this (to launch the book),” she exclaims.
With the return of the Utsav, patrons too came in droves. Asha Gupta, DGM of Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation expressed her wishes for a Puducherry chapter of the Utsav. “The people here would gain a market there and a city like Puducherry would get a chance at exploring this concept,” she hopes.