Shaireen Zari Art

Our workshop is located at 103 Chandni Chowk, right near the Noor Guest House. If you know this area, you know how crowded and narrow the lanes are. You have to weave through the rickshaws and people just to get to our door. Inside, it’s a bit of a different world. It’s quieter, though you can still hear the hum of the market outside. We work with zari, which means there is a lot of gold and silver thread around. We sit on the floor mostly, working on large frames. It takes a lot of patience and good eyesight. My father did this before me, and he learned it from his father. We don't have a big corporate structure or a website with lots of buttons. We just have our hands and our needles. The light in the room isn't always the best, but we've learned how to work with it. Sometimes we stay late when a big order needs to be finished, drinking tea to stay awake. People come to us because they know we've been in this spot for years and we don't take shortcuts. It’s a traditional way of doing things, and we haven't seen much reason to change it. The walls are covered in old patterns and sketches that have been there for decades. It feels like home to us, even with all the chaos of Chandni Chowk right outside.