Hip, hep & happening

There was a time when Rama Market was the favourite shopping place of the ladies. Paltan Bazaar, the city''s retail market, was frequented by Doonites for general shopping while Rajpur Road was an attraction in its own right. And those were the days when these places did not in any way constitute a Mecca of factory and designer outlets, offering upscale merchandise for the value-minded shoppers.But things have changed. Today these places can be seen to be the most dynamic and ever-changing spaces in the city.
Says Raj Naithani, "I brought the first brand, and an international one at that, namely United Colours of Benetton, to the city in 1995. That''s when the change probably was setting in. And today the city sees a new outlet or a showroom being launched every few months."
The success of the Woodland Showroom that was opened by Avtar Singh in 1999 on Rajpur Road further transformed the look of the neighbourhood market. Today the market has been flooded with the best of brands – Pringle, Allen Solly, Koutons, Wills, Umang Sarees, Buddy Davis, L''il Tomatoes... to name just a few.
Informs Hemant Kapoor, manager at Woodlands, "Prior to this showroom the place housed the Allied Book Depot."
Among the recent launches, Bharti Fashions was the most awaited one especially by the ladies as they had begun to have difficulty in travelling to the over-crowded Pipal Mandi where the two other older Bharti Saree Houses are located. Says Surbhi Sapra, one of the three daughters-in-law who look after the family business, "We opened this showroom as the ladies were finding it more and more difficult to drive through the congested traffic, to reach our other showrooms. Now with this outlet they can reach easily."
Dora Sarees on Rajpur Road is yet another upmarket fashion house out to conquer the hearts of Doonites. Says Subhash Dora, the proprietor, "We have ladies wear, especially designer sarees made to order from Calcutta."
The famous-for-decades bakery of Doon, Elloras has gradually branched out into Grands and Melting Moments and the three together are doing Doon proud. Elloras'' rusks, biscuits and stick jaws are famous everywhere Doonites go. Elloras'' was started way back in 1953 by K.L. Gulati, who basically started a small shop to sell bread, eggs, biscuits and the like. Today his sons Virendra, Surendra and Davinder look after the business that has grown manifolds. Says Virendra Gulati, "My uncle of Anupam Shawls took the initiative and started Elloras and later my father joined him. Years later I decided to do Hotel Management from Pusa Institute and today I look after all the three branches along with my brothers."
Asked what changes did he observe in the choice of Doonites over the years, he says that gone are the days when Doonites asked for Indian sweets.
"Today they want gift packs of cakes, cookies, etc. The basic change is in the culture of celebration. Earlier wedding cakes were restricted only to Christian weddings. Today all weddings and engagements are considered incomplete without a cake," smiles Gulati.
The saga of Rajpur Road becoming a modern shopping mall becomes complete with the opening of Nirula''s, Hawaiian Blues and Domino''s.