Testimonials

Advertising and social communicator, Storyteller

I talk to my Kanishka’s saree. “Why don’t you fade! Get holes… get frayed! Out of fashion… something! But you just won’t listen! Sigh! At least you still get me compliments!

Arts Programmer

Nandita pishi had been very close to my dad. I have been coming to the store since the days I used to walk around holding my mother’s hand. She used to bring me to the store and I always had the eyes for the beautiful sarees that she picked in those days. Since childhood I’ve been following the trends and footsteps of my mother, and one of those were the Sarees that she wore from Kanishka’s, which filled, up the 80% of her cupboard. One of those things that I’ve inherited from her is her cupboard full of Kanishka’s.

Historian

I admire Nandita Raja for her dedication and innovative ideas and I love Kanishka’s sarees for their exclusiveness and elegance.

Businesswoman & Jeweler

Kanishka’s means Stalwart in styling. Back in my childhood I used to see my mother running to Kanishka’s to buy suti block printed sarees. In those days there was a craze of wearing western clothes hence I didn’t understand the value and importance of sarees. I would wonder why my mother was so crazy about Kanishka’s. When I became an adult and started exploring the world of sarees, even I started buying silk, crepe, cotton, tussah sarees from Kanishka’s. When I wear a Kanishka’s saree to an occasion everyone stops to stare and compliment on it. Since then I think Kanishka’s doesn’t have a substitute. With all due respect to other designers, many come and go but Kanishka’s block print has so much creativity, no one can come close to being as great as Kanishka’s. When block print’s on your mind, the last word is Kanishka’s.

Author, Curator & Documentarian

My association with Kanishka dates back to Jadavpur University days, when as a young student of English (Hons!) then only in my First Year, I wore my first Kanishka saree. If I recall correctly, it was a cotton print, priced at Rs 50! The beautiful block print (a Pujo gift from Ma-Bapi) in shades of green & blue, looked rather nice, I was told. Decades late, my wardrobe still has some exquisite Kanishka weaves, though I don’t wear the cotton block prints anymore! My Orissa sarees, Gadwals, Daccais, Telias, Bomkais, Tussar Kalamkaris, Uppadas, to name just a few, are all thanks to the Rajas & their outstanding collection. Over the years, so many special occasions have been occasions to drape a Kanishka saree & many a book launch/exhibition opening have been so memorable because Nanditadi & Dilipda have made sure I had a beautiful saree to wear that evening. I believe Kolkata’s ladies owe a debt of gratitude to the first couple of designer wear in the city, who actually created a sense of aesthetics amongst it’s clients.

Odissi Dancer

About 12 years ago I had an opportunity to create a composite art with Nandita. We spent a lovely evening together in a garden while I danced which was influenced by Kanishka’s saree. Even since then we bonded and spent many more beautiful moments together thereafter.

Theatre director/person

My journey of teaching and creativity started from the same time as Kanishka’s. I was always very attracted to the design, material and always found it very different. I am loyal to the brand and all my Sarees are from Kanishka’s. Yet I travel to many cities across the country but only place I stop to shop is Kanishka’s. People tease me for not buying sarees elsewhere. I met Kamal Mazumdar wearing Kanishka’s and he pointed out at the swastika on my sarees and asked why I let it touch my feet, I simply replied saying it’s not touching my feet it’s close to my body. It was my favourite saree. My creative journey, Kanishka’s journey, Nandita’s journey all fall in the same place together.

Actress & TV personality

Kanishka’s to me is about making a statement of expressing the highest

Degree of artistic taste. over the years, it has not only maintained the awe- inspiring quality it had started with but also gone ahead to amaze me every

Time i visit. i always give the example of nandita di to tell people who ask me about style and how she can drape almost any saree of any color and any kind of design to perfection. i have been in the acting industry for the last 16 years and through my career, i’m probably the only actor who uses only her own wardrobe. most of this time i have worn kanishka’s sarees. for my most successful and longest running tele-serial akash neel, i have only worn kanishka’s sarees for every single episode.

Filmmaker

I have been coming to Kanishka’s for several years now, from the early days of my career as a filmmaker and can confidently say that Kanishka’s in many ways has influenced my sensibilities. I have extensively used their sarees in several of my films and even use their saree tags as bookmarks! I have their logo, the Jagannath with hands cut on a large wooden block on request for my home.

Consultant of Folk Arts

When I was a teenager my mother used to go to Kanishka’s to get her Sarees printed. Then they became friends with the Kanishka’s family, Nandita and Dilip, and we had the similar taste in sarees hence I also started buying sarees from Kanishka’s. What I like about Kanishka’s is that it is very organized. If I’m in a hurry to go to any occasion and I have very little time in hand, the only place I can think of is Kanishka’s. The staff knows just what I want and show me exactly what suits my taste as they have been there for years together! It doesn’t take me more than ten minutes to find a good Saree. There hasn’t been a time when I haven’t found something that I like.

Tabla Maestro

Many years back there was this Afro-American guy I met in Belgium, and this was in a bar in Brussels. He was playing a gorgeous instrument called a talking drum. I was so enamored by that instrument that I wanted to buy it from him at any price he would quote. What happened thereafter was quite amazing. He said I’d give it to you in exchange of that gorgeous shirt you are wearing. The shirt was actually my Kanishka’s Kurta. I met the same persona year back and he said, “I still wear that shirt. It is a priced possession for me. I still have his gorgeous drum. This little anecdote goes to show just how enticing Kanishka’s Kurtas are!

Media Consultant

Kanishka embodies everything that is the choicest and the most creative, epitomized by the duo of Nandita and Dilip, who are the quintessence of classical elegance. This tana-bana pair have woven the warp and weft of their innovative genius into the consciousness of the discerning wearer.

Performing Artist

My association with Kanishka’s is long, colorful, aesthetic, ethnic, warm, honest, loving, learning and full of surprises. Some good relationships in life are very difficult to pin point when and how it happens. This is one of those beautiful relationships I have with Nandita di & Kanishka’s but I think it all truly started in all earnest when the Kolkata Video was being done. And I think I’m the first one of its kind who just spread her message of love through a song on a Saree. And I probably decided to spread my message through Saree “Kolkata Kolkata, Don’t Worry Kolkata” through my songs. She has designed my Sarees in Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and English.

She has also done designed beautiful scarves for peace, for Nelson Mandela, Richard Gere, Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Prince Charles, Amitabh Bachchan and many more wonderful people.

Filmmaker & Actor

This year Kanishka’s has completed forty years of its existence. It never ceases to amaze me how it has managed to maintain a consistent standard of excellence over all these years!
My association with Kanishka’s has been a long one. When I first discovered this sari shop tucked away in Hindustan Road, it was a revelation. Gone were the days of desperately running around from shop to shop trying to find a sari to suit your taste. Here was the perfect store for the busy workingwoman! A whole range of saris from all over India had already been handpicked by two wonderful individuals with impeccable taste – Nandita & Dilip Raja, the owners of Kanishka’s – and you just had to take your pick. It was rarely ever that I dropped in at Kanishka’s and came out without picking up a sari; on the contrary, I invariably ended up buying far too many! But it has always been a singular pleasure shopping at Kanishka’s…browsing for saris, now even for kurtas for my husband, western ensembles for my daughters, durries for our home, with the added incentive of chatting with Nandita and Dilip-da who have become good friends, if they happen to be in! My heartiest congratulations to them both, and to Prateek and his wife, on Kanishka’s fortieth birthday! May Kanishka’s continue to flourish for many, many more years!