"She loved it": Fashion Designer Bina Ramani recalls gifting jewellery to former PM Indira Gandhi

In an interview with ANI, Bina Ramani recalled her encounter with Indira Gandhi at a festival curated by writer Pupul Jayakar, where several Indian designers had tied up with various stores.

While recounting the incident, Bina Ramani said, "I went for Indira Gandhi. Now, I'm wearing a particular sari to match the necklace that I had recently made, which was a bunch of about maybe 30 garnets loose at the bottom, attached to a big pendant of two peacocks with a hole in it. The two peacocks were held together. And then I would wrap this big thing. I had a long neck and then I would bring out that cascading thing here. So it was very dramatic.

She continued, "So as I approach closer, we are in a line, and it's a pleasure to meet her and so on, and her eyes are on my neck. She's saying, Are you part of the festival? They didn't know me. What's your name? I said, Bina Ramani. So she asked, What do you do? I said, I design jewellery. Did you do this? And I said, Yes. That's very beautiful. I've never seen any garnets ever look like this."

Despite a packed schedule of Indira Gandhi, which included interviews, a book launch and a BBC appearance at Claridge's Hotel, the former Prime Minister made arrangements to accommodate Bina Ramani for a short meeting after being impressed by her jewellery.

Bina Ramani shared her conversation with Indira Gandhi, saying, "She (Indira Gandhi) asks do you have jewellery with you? And I'm saying, can you believe me? This is the subject. So then I'm saying, I do, but I'm leaving for New York tomorrow morning because I have samples. I sell them there. So she says to him, 'Can we fit her into an appointment?' What time are you leaving? All of this. I was to go to the airport at one o'clock. She manages to get me to change plans, and she invites me to the Claridge's hotel."

She continued, "And he's telling her, no, ma'am, we have an interview, your book is being launched, and the BBC is coming at 9. So this will delay them. She then asked me if I would come in the morning. I said, I will. It's such a pleasure."

During the meeting, Indira Gandhi selected a few pieces from Bina Ramani's collection to her liking.

Although the former PM insisted on paying for them but Ramani declined, saying she wanted the pleasure of gifting them, adding that the pieces did not cost much at all.

"She picked two, three pieces. I loved it. She wanted to insist on paying. I said, Please give me this pleasure. They don't cost much at all," said Bina Ramani.

Bina Ramani is also known for pioneering boutique culture in India, developing Delhi's Hauz Khas Village art and fashion district in the 1980s, and later the Qutub Colonnade area. (ANI)