Daily Times

Only 14 days are left until Eid, and the women of Lahore are already rushing towards the bazaars for their Eid shopping. Of course, they’ve got to be able to buy so many things to slay on this festive occasion.

We all know how brands, even designer outfits, are ruling over minds these days, but when it comes to kundan keh jhumkay, khussay, kola puri, and colorful chooriyan for our traditional Eid look, we all rush towards local bazaars.

So, where is it that we can grab our Eid outfits from and all the matching accessories to go along with them? Well, there is an old and famous spot in Lahore’s Liberty market, known as Dupatta Gali.

Dupatta Gali is famous for so many things, but it specifically stands out as the best place for dyeing your dupattas. The scene is, simply, captivating when the dyers get to dye ‘chunri keh dupattay’ with a bunch of colours and creative patterns. You can customise your own designs, but the prices are different for tie and dye, single dye, or double dye.

The dupatta is considered an essential part of traditional Pakistani dressing. The trend has not changed, but different styles of wearing the dupatta have changed now. Women are more likely to carry old, ‘gotta kanaari’ traditional dupattas to mehndi functions. The 80’s trends are back!

Dupatta Gali is not only famous for its dupattas though; you can buy almost everything from here, varying all the way from unstitched clothes to bridal lehangas.

So if you are getting married this year, here is some good news for you dulhans. You really do not have to buy highly priced designer lehngas for your wedding or, literally, go out of your budget for your big day. The tailor masters of Dupatta Gali can make a ditto copy of your designer wedding dress at much lower rates.

But that’s not all: gold sets, kundan keh jhumkay, tikkas and matha pattis, the must-have essentials, from a Pakistani bride’s jewelry vault, are all available here. You can also find the best hand-crafted Kolhapuri slippers and traditional khussas in the basement of Dupatta Gali. The multiple colours of their embroidery are, simply, breathtaking.

Dupatta Gali, once a street, has now become a whole market, and the number of shops has increased remarkably over the past years.

All the tiredness that comes with all the shopping can boost your hunger games too, but don’t worry! A variety of foods are available here to satisfy your taste buds. You will find a great amount of hustle and bustle at food stalls, where you’ll find fruit chat, dahi bhallay, gol gappay, the oiliest and yummiest of french fries etc.

People these days, as a matter of fact, are wholeheartedly becoming brand and trend followers. To summarise this, Dupatta Gali may not be a place for trendsetters. But it is a hot favourite, for all the mothers and aunties, because of its comparatively lower prices and variety of choices.

The writer is a recent graduate of Mass Communication from University of the Punjab, Lahore, and is interested in lifestyle, culture, arts and history. She can be reached at arshiyazahid@hotmail.com and tweets @arshiayzahid

Published in Daily Times, June 7^th 2018.