“When I go to bed, I think of next morning’s breakfast.” One can’t believe that the lithe Pernia Qureshi’s life almost centres around her meals. “I have never been too busy to not to eat,” says the fashion entrepreneur and founder of popular online fashion store, Pernia Pop-Up Shop. Part of the reason is her Rampuri roots and then her education in a boarding school shaped her appetite. Not to forget her training as a Kathak and Kuchipudi exponent that has given her an enviable metabolism.
“When I went to Woodstock School, I was 6. and when you are in a boarding school, the respect for food goes up,” she quips. “You constantly feel that you are being deprived of good food and whenever you get an opportunity you tend to overeat. So the obsession started in school and after that it hasn’t really left me.” She has fond memories of the days when she was a “bottomless pit”. “I was in 11 th standard. Every couple of weeks we would drive down to Rishikesh. it was a two hour drive from Mussoorie. We were a group of 10-12 girls. We would take that road across the Lakshman jhoola and on one such trip we found an Italian dhaba run by an Italian man. We were so crazy about food that we could drive down to the end of the earth to find food. We ordered the whole menu. We ate paste and cheese and we were so full that we could not sit any more. And then that man said that he had desserts – nutrella pancakes – and we were back to full attention. I still eat as much but I am not 16 any more and the metabolism is not the same,” rues Pernia.
Pernia Qureshi
Rampuri food
We meet at the newly opened Chor Bizzare in Bikaner House and over a plate of palak patta chaat and dahi batata puri, Pernia gets talking about Rampuri food. Pernia says it is similar to Awadhi but it has got its own uniqueness. “It is very much centred around meats and kababs. Every dish has meat...so we have saag gosht, daal gosht. aloo gosht. You don’t see that so much in Lucknow.” Her favourite is something called taar gosht. “When you pick up the meat from the gravy. there is thick string of ghee that comes out. It is spicy and rich and made on special occasions. As a kid, I used to call it shaadi wala salan.” Her grandmother, her inspiration, is an expert on Rampuri cuisine. “She makes amazing keeme ki khichdi and kaali daal khichdi. These are some of the dishes that I have not encountered in any other city or restaurant.” The Rampuri food’s fascination for meat is similar to that in Pakistan, where her mother comes from. But Pernia’s memories of Pakistani food is more about their oversized rotis and the rusk that her naani used to offer her after lacing it with malai and sugar.
Pernia admits her fashion taste is much more evolved than her culinary choices. “I am not into molecular experiments, where there is drama around the food but eventually the portions are tiny. Give me something simple but it has to be filling.” Food assumes the position of a conversation starter for Pernia. “I judge my prospective friends through what and how they eat. Sometimes one dinner meeting is enough to decide!,” she chuckles.
A graduate in criminal justice and English literature from George Washington University, Pernia wanted to be a lawyer but midway through the course, her passion for fashion and styling made her switch streams. “I finished graduation but alongside I started doing internships with fashion labels and magazines.” It resulted in Aisha, which she styled, and Pernia soon became a name to reckon with.
Slow but organic
“Online shopping was a very new thing at that time. I started in 2012, and at that time hardly anybody shopped online. TV was educating clients how to shop online. It was an untapped territory and there was a gap and I thought why not try it. I started with 14 designers and today, after five years, I am working with 500.” She is about to launch her app, a footwear label is in the pipeline and has just launched a jewellery label with Swarovski. “The growth has been slow but organic and genuine. And whatever we sell is made in India. I have a patriotic side to me. We sell all over the world but it is all made here.” Has she reached Rampur? “We have had one or two orders but eventually I will reach there.”
Women entrepreneurs are often judged for their emotional side. Pernia agrees one has to become a little thick-skinned to keep going but she is not conscious about her feminine side. “It has made me what I am. I am very impatient. But this quick quick quick attitude has really worked for me. We change our home page three times a week. We have three four collections coming in every week. In a recent TED talk, I said one should turn one’s supposed negative aspects of personality to one’s advantage.” When she performs, Pernia says, she surprisingly becomes a lot more calm.
However, it doesn’t translate in kitchen. “I hate to cook. I tried jeera aloo once and it was a disaster. In life, you should do that gives you peace and happiness; cooking stresses me out. Food tastes really good when the person making it is enjoying the process. That’s why my grandmother’s food tastes so good. My food is made with stress and frustration!”
