“No success can easily take away the lessons I have learnt from my father and have passed on to my son,” said Casa Paradox founder Raseel Gujral, at the India Design Week 2024 in New Delhi, where her exhibit ‘Art by the Meter’ revealed her personality. As the daughter of Padma Vibhushan awardee artist Satish Gujral, whose older brother Inder Kumar Gujral was the Prime Minister of India, interior designer Raseel’s journey in the field began 38 years ago.

Her interest in Anglo-Indian furniture and European paintings opened the avenues to exploring contemporary art, where she saw only the affluent indulge. “Art now has criminal rates,” she laughs. “Art must be made accessible. Artifacts are largely desired but there is also a renewed appreciation for traditional works. When I started out, there were many types of customers – from quasi-English babus to lovers of modernism. It would seem like a ‘fancy dress competition’, each going for their favourites.”

Art has seen many phases. “True,” says Raseel. “Now, there is so much information in the digital world that unless you know how to navigate your way through, you are lost. For me, I went back to my roots where my identity and solace rested.” Art, for her, has been a combination of dream, expression, and reaction. Needless to say, authenticity is a clincher. “People resonate with a sense of humour. Please don’t bind yourself in intellectual madness,” she says.

Founder of Casa Paradox, a designer furniture store in Delhi, she believes the purpose of art is to provoke, and urge us to think. As an avid reader of history and a post-partition child, she was raised by strong women, who were then abandoned. “My grandmother lived with us, the stories, songs and culture were ingrained in my psyche early on. The next generation, unfortunately, does not know about the ‘indigo revolution’, or the acts of suppression by the British, or even Mughal influences on our heritage. I spent a significant part of my life listening to those riveting tales told by my grandparents at home,” says Raseel. Probably why she calls herself a “nesting person” almost a “hermit”. “Home is a very important place for me. It nurtures my soul. Why must I travel at all when I find everything here?,” she asks.

During the pandemic, mindless consumption came to a stop. “COVID-19 took us within,” she says. She withdrew from things that didn’t work for her and kept only what added meaning to her life. “Colours are my oxygen,” says Raseel, who admits to being partial to red. “Red is visceral — whether it is chilli, blood red, carrot, or even pomegranate, each has a personality and speaks to you,” she says.

Life has come full circle for Raseel. She has inherited her father’s love for Urdu poetry. “He was a mature reader from a young age, despite him losing his hearing at eight. When he recited poems, I would ask him to translate. He gave me an Urdu to English dictionary, which changed my life,” she says.

Her love for design seeps effortlessly into her personal space, where she dabbles in fashion, designing her own saris. Luxury is not flaunting labels. “Buying brands is like reassuring yourself, almost like seeking validation. It is the eighth deadly sin,” she laughs, confessing her love for vintage shawls, juttis and handloom kurtas. “For me, it is about beauty, not the worth of a product,” she says.

Her 24-year-old son Imaan has headed to the UK to study environmental architecture. “He wants to save the world. Through him, I am reconnecting with myself,” says Raseel, a PhD in architecture from Ansal University.

What does she feel about Artificial Intelligence in interior design? “I abandoned social media two years ago as I felt it was unnecessary. There is too much noise, self-promotion and self-aggrandisement. It is addictive and clutters my mind space,” she says.

Raseel has now taken up an expansive project in Tankara, on the Rajkot-Morbi highway, the birthplace of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj. The site was inaugurated by the President of India, and Raseel unveiled the design that incorporates a library, museum hall and auditorium. “My grandfather was an Arya Samaji, so this project is close to my heart,” she says.