Sometimes you create a legacy when you least expect it. Pherozesha Sidhwa had studied to become a lawyer, when he met Jamshed Mehta, a freedom fighter and one of the builders of modern day Karachi. Mehta’s ideas of economic freedom from foreign goods (the Swadeshi Movement) inspired Pherozesha to abandon his articleship and start a tile manufacturing company along with his nephew Rustom Sidhwa. And that’s how Bharat Tiles was born.
“The trademark of the company, stamped on the back of every tile was the map of united India (including what are now Pakistan and Bangladesh). The company started operations in 1922, out of some sheds the family owned in Uran. There was no electricity or telephone service, and the tiles were brought over in fishing boats which plied when the weather was fair,” says Firdaus Variava, the third generation owner and vice-chairman of the company.
Being the first producer of cement tiles in Mumbai, Bharat Tiles enjoyed a lengthy list of projects commissioned by the new free government of India and maharajas looking to dress up their palaces. In a short time, the quality of the tiles produced was such that they began to replace the British imports, and the company came to be the leading producer of tiles in India, with clients like Raj Bhavans, palaces of Maharajas as well as the public and private buildings that were being built at the time.
The company has laid intricate flooring for the city’s iconic structures including the Bhau Daji Lad Museum, the Mumbai Central station, the Bombay High Court, Metro Cinema, Churchgate station and Mantralaya.
The first batch of tiles was made for the Readymoney building at Fort, Mumbai and Pherozesha was dissatisfied with the finish of the tiles, so he stopped delivery and had the entire lot thrown into the sea. ‘This was the sort of devotion to quality the founders had, which continues today. They knew that in order to compete with imported tiles, their own quality had to be as good or better,” recalls Firdaus.
Given that he is helming the sales, marketing and the new product development for the company, Firdaus says, “We began our story by having tiles designed in Europe, at the turn of the century. Over the years, many architects and interior designers have provided us with their designs, and these have become part of our collections.”
This year, Bharat Tiles began working with four very talented designers, to proactively create new ranges of tiles. These designers are Sian Pascale, Alice Von Baum, Ayaz Basrai and Sameer Kulavoor. Each designer has come up with something refreshing that speaks to them personally. “And we are very happy to translate their dreams into reality,” he says. The company has collaborated with architect Vikas Dilavari while they were working on the floors for Royal Bombay Yatch Club. The flooring and the restoration of the venerable club were perfectly matched. The project won an award from UNESCO for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
“We also collaborated with Khosla Associates for the Library House in Bangalore, which had us making a new tile design which was inspired and derived from parts of a very old pattern. We played with elements of the design, scale and colour to produce something new and exciting and the tiles won the EDIDA Award from Elle Decor,” says a proud Firdaus.
The company generally chooses partners who have had some experience with its materials. As a somewhat non-mainstream choice of material, it takes some getting used to and the nuances of cement have to be understood before it can be worked with effectively.
“We never know which ones will be successful. Each architect or interior designer has their own very specific taste and of late we have been getting more demands to create custom patterns for them. The ones that are simpler have been more successful of late, although that changes from year to year,” Firdaus says.
The most iconic design that the company has designed is the Inverlochy design. This was based on the flooring of the Inverlochy castle in Scotland. Its rich complexity and vibrant colours have found a home in such places as Cathedral School, Mumbai, Radisson Hotel, Goa as well as scores of private residences, clubhouses and offices.
So what sets Bharat Tiles apart from the rest? “Our main USP is that we make highly customised, beautiful and vibrant floors which are available at a very reasonable price. Today, with handmade things not available anymore, we are proud that we can keep these traditional flooring arts alive,” says Firdaus. ‘The fact that somebody is out there, making your tiles by hand, specially for you is very thrilling. This is the reason why Bharat Tiles has survived for close to a century, and I hope that we can reach out to more people throughout the world,” he adds. The company also indulges customers to sit with its in-house team of designers to help them decide on colours and layouts of the floors.
Another innovative service offered by the company, is the one to design your own tile. In this service, customers can give pictures or drawings of their designs, and these are converted through the company’s processes into the actual tile. Samples can be made for approval and then once the design is finalised, production begins. This is often a lengthy process, but the end result is something unique!