Meet Sujit Rathore, the proud host of Nokha House, a charming homestay in the heart of Jaipur’s Bani Park area. In recent times, Sujit has launched his very own cafe and ventured into Pink City’s myriad culinary cityscape. Known to all as Nokha House by Firangi Deli, Sujit’s venture has won hearts right from the word go. The city’s various foodies cannot stop praising his spaghettis, pizzas and indulgent cakes. Although we hail from the same batch of Mayo College and Mayo Gir

As an Indian, I have held immense pride in my nation’s diversity of regions, topographies, languages, cuisines, traditional attires and religions to name but a few. This diversity’s gruesome heads to surface every now and then, but the utopian in me seeks solace in India’s symbiotic retention of parallel worlds, realities and truths. Of holding both, apples and oranges, chalk and cheese in one marvellous subcontinental platter. Where progressive and fascist political agendas

Worldwide, it is a common feature for boys from male-centric family setups to grow up into active perpetrators of the very patriarchy that they were raised amidst. Add to that the socio-cultural dividends accorded to patriarchs in more conservative milieus, which further bolsters male-chauvinistic conducts of behaviours and mindsets as a widely accepted and rewarded norm. Direct and indirect references to social misconducts warranted by patriarchy pervade across class, caste,

Just this morning, when I was washing down my last omelette morsel with coffee did I read the COVID 2.0 news bulletin: “India overtakes Brazil as world’s second worst-hit country by COVID-19 with a record rise in daily cases surpassing the 12-lakh mark.” The ghastly picture of this time around last year sent a shudder down my spine. Another national lockdown? More casualties, an overloaded medical infrastructure and the continued crippling of our economy? Would 2020 repeat it

Design and philanthropy stalwarts for over thirty years and counting, the Kathiwadas embellish yet another jewel to their ever-growing legacy of creative innovation. Just when their unparalleled contributions to the fields of fashion, cricket and philanthropy leave all of us wonder-struck and gasping for breath, the House of Kathiwada pulls the next surprise that they had thus far hidden in its sleeve. This time around, it’s Circle 1434, a first-of-its-kind members community

The charming European style villa that is perched upon Srinagar’s Shankaracharya Hill overlooking the Dal Lake is no ordinary mansion. Constructed in the 1920’s as Karan Mahal, it served as the residence of Dr. Karan Singhji, the then crown prince of Jammu & Kashmir. A charismatic leader of legendary stature, Dr. Karan Singh served as Jammu & Kashmir’s Head of State and Governor for nearly two decades before moving to the national capital to form Indira Gandhi’s cabinet. Havi

Ex-engineer Preeti Rathore and marketing professional Maanveer Shekhawat are making headlines as Pink City’s most power-packed couple and for good reason. The two resigned from their conventional jobs in order to invest themselves fully in their joint passion for sustainable farming. Both Rathore and Shekhawat have found their calling in natural quests since their childhood years, and fate had its way of aligning them with their mutually treasured cause. After quitting his co

The days have been flowing at a hectic, almost but not quite frenetic speed that has been all but normalised in the year that was 2020. The nights are even longer but have a distinctively spiritual and self-reflective quality. India is a cacophony of sights, sounds, smells, a sensorial fest where chaos is its equilibrium. But now India teeters around a dangerous flux. A flux around religion and autocracy as exemplified by the shutting down of Tanishq stores  and the taking do

Sanjay Singh Badnor uncovers the dazzling journey of Bollywood's celebrated stylist and costume designer from Madhya Pradesh's former princely state of Narsingharh in this exclusive feature for Rajputana Collective.

In The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, celebrity influencer Marie Kondo propagates the Japanese art of decluttering and organising through a purging process of one’s immediate living spaces. The exponential growth of rapid consumerism has met with several countercurrents of ethical questioning, with minimalism leading this fray. Popular streaming channels such as Netflix have taken the lead in broadcasting commentaries on the dire need of minimalism, sustainability and c

A postgraduate student at the London School of Economics, her country’s astonishing lapses in public policy led Shubhangana to take up the subject as her specialisation. Her sister Veerangana is an Economics major from Mumbai’s St. Xavier’s College and endeavours to work in the world of sustainable fashion. Together, they have launched a series of social welfare initiatives for social welfare and wildlife conservation, the most recent one being Dor.

Ace singer and performer Geeta Jhala features on Rajputana Collective to lift some of your COVID-19 blues with her magical voice and a...

The Jamsaheb of Nawanagar (present-day Jamnagar) went down in history as India’s all-time-great cricketer, popularly commemorated today through the domestic first-class cricket championship named after him as the Ranjhi Trophy. His numerous offshoots, such as Duleep Sinhji and Ranvir Jadeja carried Indian cricketing to newer heights to the extent that renders Indian cricket incomplete without its Jadejas of Nawnagar. Anyone hailing from such an illustrious lineage of sportspe

Dualism is a word that most of us Rajput millennials know too well. We have grown up juggling with two parallel worlds. On the one hand, there is the bygone era of Rajput glory that continues to resonate in present-day rituals, folklores and songs. On the other hand, lies an expanding world of liberal ideas, freedom and change that we begin dissolving into, once education and schooling begins. No sooner do we come of age and return to our ancestral dwellings than that contras

Amidst the creative cityscape of Jodhpur that has long since bustled with design hallmarks, former NIFT graduate and 36-year-old Tarini Singh’s design label, The Cobalt Company stands out as its latest retail affair.

A devotee carrying a divine palanquin on Dussehra The incumbent Raja Maheshwar Singhji of Kullu ahead of the Dussehra festivities THE ROYAL INTRIGUE & A BRAHMIN’S CURSE   Once upon a time, the then Raja of Kullu erroneously convicted a holy man of royal intrigue. His misjudgement cost the innocent victim his life through self-immolation, and until his very last breath, the burning man cursed the Raja for his haughtiness. In lieu of insulting him, the puritan vindictively prop

Classical accounts of Indian mythology, historical narratives, legends, traditional art and iconography have all born the indigenous horse at their fulcrum at recurring points of time. One of its most iconic variants, namely the Marwari horse requires no prior introduction for its wartime heroism. This lyre-eared and fleet-footed ranger of the desert has gone down in immortal fables for having timelessly protected its people and soil from foreign invasions till its dying brea

She’s hip and she’s sassy, she’s unassuming and she’s nonchalant. When asked about the staggering figure of 12.2 thousand that organically follows her Instagram handle, the fashionista casually dismisses it as social media fun coupled with sheer chance. A freelance associate producer and event manager based in India’s Maximum City, Vedika Rana is living life one dream at a time. This fall, Rajputana Collective rises to the opportunity of featuring the upcoming creative entrep

A little girl from the erstwhile kingdom of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh grew up believing that no dream was too big for her to achieve. From the very beginning, she had her heart set on performing arts such as dancing and acting, but held reservations vis-a-vis its acceptance within her community, where dancing and acting were watched and much-appreciated, but never conducted by oneself. However, the oft-related stereotypes and hurdles attached to the art and career of performing