This Award-Winning Roadside Furniture Shop Has The President's Seal Of Approval

We’ve crossed Aastha Handicrafts Furniture every single day on our way home, and it didn’t look like much. So, after a whole year of ignoring it, when we decided to finally check it out, we got the biggest surprise of our lives: In 2012, it won the National Award, that was handed over to them by the President and yet, there it is, standing ever-so-nonchalantly.

After recovering from the initial shock of finding out its award-winning history, we decided to prod one of the brothers on their story. The main man {Khalil-Ur-Rehman}, was out of town, but Muzaffar was quite a big help with dishing out the essential details.

The brothers have been in Delhi for about two decades now. The shop has gone from a mall to a hidden place in Dwarka, but for the last 10 years or so, they’ve been close to Shiv Mandir near the Noida Toll Bridge. On a cold, winter afternoon when we found ourselves here, we saw quite a few people walk in for a look-see, and Muzaffar was busy showing them around. In a {rare} free moment, he also mentioned how a lot of their work is sarkari. You know, furniture for government offices, officials’ homes and the like. The national award also means that they get a free stall at the Surajkund mela so you can find them there in Feb {in case you sparsely come to the Noida side of life}.

More on the shop: So, everything here from mirrors, sofas, tables, cabinets, couches, dining tables, chairs and more is made from teak or sheesham wood. All of these pieces are made from scratch right at their workshop. This is why, you don’t just get to pick up what you see there, but also place orders for something completely customised. Any replica from the catalogue is also possible, we’re told. The made-to-order furniture can take up to 20 days to be finished.

There’s little room for bargaining on the prices they quote. To give you an idea, a medium-sized table was priced at INR 6,000, a mirror table at INR 9,500 and a 5-seater chair set at INR 35,000.

It can be a tricky place to find, but remember that it’s right next to the Barapullah Flyover exit for Ashram and DND. Which means, if you’re coming to Noida from Barapullah, you should be able to spot it on your left.  Or, if you’re still lost, call them at 9350767774/9350153134 for directions.