Princess Mriganka: Crafting Furniture In Style

The princess of Kashmir has a company that makes bespoke pieces inspired by royal furniture from Kashmir and Patiala.She tells us about  her parents, the dreamy villa near Dal Lake, her love for kayaking and why her grandmother will always inspire her.

- Priya Kumari Rana

THIS ELEGANT, lissome princess with her trademark pixie-cut hairstyle is enjoying motherhood these days within the compound of her white-walled Lutyens' Delhi residence. Princess Mriganka Singh of Kashmir, five months with child, poses in her favourite summer outfit-a pastel kaftan, accessorised with diamond and emerald earrings, bracelet, rings and a Cartier watch.

Not a moment goes without her ever watchful eye on two-year-old daughter Amaya (she married Nirvan Singh Sandhu, grandson of Captain Amarinder Singh, former chief minister of Punjab and Maharaja of Patiala, a few years ago).

The 20-something granddaughter of Karan Singh, Maharaja of Kashmir, politician and son of the legendary Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu & Kashmir, the last ruler of the princely state, is following her own trajectory as a furniture designer in the national capital. The first step was studying Communication Design at Lasalle College of Arts in Singapore. "When I returned, I began to help my parents renovate their home in Srinagar and started appreciating interiors and furniture, especially Art Deco dining tables and chairs, antique Victorian dressing tables and British colonial display cabinets," she says. "I customised a bar cabinet for their living room and that's how I started my made-to-order furniture company BAHA Living (Baha' means splendour and glory in Persian and Arabic)."