Now normally we don’t buy clothing from here, but get it directly from the homeland whenever someone comes over. We thought that the cloth sold here was somehow inferior, even though the higher quality cloth that mills in Punjab manufacture is sold to outside international markets like Surrey.
He had been reminding me for a long time that they have a huge sale. Time passed. So on November 24th 2007 we decided to head out and see if they had any decent cloth for my dastaar.
As soon as I saw the huge building I knew that this was not just any other Punjabi cloth store but someone far beyond. The place was huge and I had a good feeling that we would not be disappointed.
We went in and lot out a collective WOW at the amount of area they had for the store.
After the initial shock wore off we moved in and walked around. There was bhangra pumping out from the overheard mini-system speaker tied to the rafters with a yellow rope. It seemed like we were transported to Punjab.
On one side there was free cloth and on the other was the ‘readymade’ suits, jackets, jewelry and stiff like that. We went into the khulla kapra section and we were drawn to a man behind the counter cutting cloth.
We approached him and he said fateh and asked what we wanted. I told him that we were looking for some cloth for dastaars. He pointed to a shelf to his right:
As soon as he was done he came over and we asked him what kind of cloth we should get for dastaars, he recommended that we get rubia 2X2(I think that’s what it was). I asked him what kind I was wearing he said that it was the same stuff we were holding.
After that he went for a tea break. He came back a short while later and Jagjeet Singh said that we liked to interview him. He was taken aback but agreed without any hesitation. We talked like we had known each other for many years. He was super-friendly and knew his kapra.
I asked him what his name was; he said he was Lachman Singh. We were very surprised to know that he sells on average over 100 dastaars a day. He further said that the most popular color that people buy is navy blue. And he told us that a good number of youth who come into sikhi buy dastaars from him for the first time and he gives them good wishes and encouragement for starting to tie a dastaar.
He said the kapra they sell comes from all over the world but the cloth for dastaars that we got was made at the famous Phagwara mill in district Jullandher. He told us of the number of different kinds of cloth and the benefits of each and which one is suitable for what kind of dastars.
If you need any kind of kapra you should visit Punajb Cloth House and see baba Lachman Singh; all your clothing needs will be met there and all questions about cloth will be answered. Punjab Cloth House is located on the northern side of 80th avenue at 127th Street, you won’t miss it...
