![]() We worked together many many times over the years,” reminisces Meera. “We were around the same age and her son, Arjan, was a couple of months younger than my daughter, Sama. The face was Simar Dugal’s, the statuesque new model who did her first ramp show with us at the Crafts Museum in Delhi, choreographed by Mehr. In the words of Meera Ali, “It was around 1993-94 when Mehr Jesia told Muzaffar and me, ‘I’ve found the perfect face for Kotwara’.” And sure enough, the face was perfect and beautiful, reflecting an inner peace. Seeing Simar walking down the ramp was as spiritual. The only other time I recall being awed instantly was when I had heard Shubha Mudgal at her debut concert. As a young writer then, I recall attending a concert by Pandit Jasraj one day, a play by Feisal Alkazi on another and a dance recital by Sonal Mansingh on day three - until fashion overtook everything and observers of culture were made to write on fashion first. Fashion then was an emerging animal in the world of popular culture, and a restless one at that, as it promised to overpower all other forms of expression. She was cajoled into the world of fashion by good friends, whom I call the “fashion’s originals”: Mehr Jesia, her friend Ritu Kumar, a pal to Rita the with-it gang: Rohit Bal, Suneet Varma, whom she partied with, and patrons of finesse like Meera and Muzaffar Ali. The contentment of not wanting to hustle, push or run roughshod over others. This sense of calm belonging is what reflected ethereally on Simar’s face. ![]() Prem was equally enriched in his lineage. The Sawhneys, amongst other things, own the Plaza cinema and Tonino, and are possibly the most respected family of Sikhs in India. ![]() She was married then to Premjit Dugal (part of the Dugal family that built half of Delhi during the Raj) and was the daughter of the firebrand, Rita Sawhney, a landscape photographer who got widowed early and brought both her kids up with much resilience. In fact, she even walked into the world of fashion with him in tow. Simar Dugal - the eternal beauty within and without - to define her in one mould would be doing the greatest disservice to a woman who was first and always a mother to her dashing son, Arjan. Not a word from Wordsworth or another poet, but one that so perfectly defined this dream that wafted through our lives, like a cool breeze to simply fly away, at too early an age, too soon in life. “She’s kind of a walking poem, she’s this perfect beauty… but at the same time very deep, very smart.” - Johnny Deppīrowsing through Internet today in search of a quote to define her, this is the one that popped up. ![]()
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