Editor’s Letter: Celebrating The Subcontinent
In the run-up to Diwali – the festival of lights – Bazaar Arabia celebrates the South Asian community and its contribution to the region
I love it when I read things that astonish me on these pages. As I was editing this month’s issue, one particular statistic jumped out; that in Dubai, the combined total of Indian and Pakistani residents make up 40 per cent of the city’s population.
Granted, Dubai is a rather unique place on many fronts, but an equally significant percentage could also well be translated across the Middle East as a whole. Almost since the very beginning, this society’s exceptional contribution to the culture here in this region cannot be overstated.
We’ve chosen to celebrate that contribution at a highly auspicious time – in the run-up to Diwali, festival of lights, taking place at the end of this month. Among our usual clutch of fabulousness, we have curated a suitably technicolour ode to the creativity, glamour, style and substance that the South Asian community has woven into the fabric of the Middle East.
From Sitara Mulchandani’s edit of designers from the subcontinent establishing roots on our home soil , to a personal – and extremely chic – tour of fashion maven Roshni Shewakramani’s Dubai home; and from a shoot in the hariyali hills of India’s Harsil Valley to legendary designer Manish Malhotra sharing his wisdom in our new franchise, Famous Last Words, this issue is a love letter to the beautiful, integral gifts that the diaspora and beyond have offered us all. At the heart of this, we asked Dubai-based journalist (and launch Editor of Bazaar India), Sujata Assomull to profile our quadruple-threat cover star, entrepreneur-model Pritika Swarup. The two powerhouses came together to discuss the importance of weaving purpose into everything you do. A very Bazaar sentiment indeed. Diwali ki shubhkamnayein.
Lead image credit: Earrings in Rose Gold with Diamonds and Rubies; Serpenti Secret Automatic Movement Watch with a White Gold Case and a Diamond Setting Dial, Diamonds and Emeralds, POA, Bvlgari High Jewellery Dress, POA, Giuseppe Di Morabito
Photographer: Vladimir Martí. Stylist: Anna Castan. Hair: Diego Miranda using As I Am. Make-Up: Rafaelle Romagnoli. Senior Producer: Steff Hawker. Styling Assistant: Christian Marchesich. Lighting Assistant: Antonio Danato
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s October 2024 issue.
