Moonrise Kingdom

Driving more than a kilometre near the border of Delhi, one wonders why Raseel Gujral and Navin Ansal, partakers of a quintessentially extravagant lifestyle, are far away from the hustle-bustle of the city and chose to live on Jaunapur road. “It’s actually a planned thought. We’ve always lived outside Delhi. We always wanted to get far away, we were in Garden Estate, which was more than 13 years ago and that time there was nothing in between Andheria Modh and Gurgaon. There wasn’t a single mall, restaurant or building. Then we moved to MG Road and when that started getting crowded, we moved to Chhattarpur. That is the reason why the house is not on the main road. Navin lives in Ferozepur. He has lived in farmhouses where there are large spaces of land so neither of us likes to live in the chaotic city. It mentally puts you in a different space,” says Raseel explaining why they’re away from the city every time they’re home.

Latitude & Longitude

Why would two people need 30,000 sq. ft. of land to live? On a typical scorching day in Delhi, one would assume that large spaces come with affluent surnames. But Gujral explains how making a “big and impressive” house was never their aim. “For example, when we’re watching television, we’re either in Navin’s study or upstairs. So we don’t have a TV in every room and it’s not like you can watch it everywhere. We’ve both have always had separate bathrooms. So, our home was designed in a way that we get separate dressing areas. We’ve always lived either in a courtyard house or in a house where there’s a central congregation point. So there are no doors here. You can walk in anywhere,” she asserts.

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Her experience in interior designing is reflected well in the design language she has woven around the needs of the house. She explains, “Navin likes to meditate in the morning. There’s a morning room, which was initially done for me because I don’t watch television. I thought it would become my study. But I ended up being so lazy in the morning that Navin’s the only one, who uses it now. Also I hate going into the kitchen, so it has been built far away. The staff kitchen is also kept separate. The family room is upstairs where our two kids grew up. The room upstairs are converted into guest accommodation. If you have a set of guests, you have an upstairs lounge, family area, living area and it becomes theirs to use, away from your space; it can function separately. We sometimes bring work home, hence, there is a home office. The segregation of space meets our individual needs,” she adds.

Shades of Reminiscence

In spite of the mammoth space and the visual rhapsody created by colour that was lent to the house by luxurious upholstery, exquisite chandeliers and quirky artefacts, the things that Gujral cherishes the most are the memorabilia in the form of family photographs and her father’s paintings. “There’s artwork that I cherish that has been gifted by my father. Starting from when I was 15 to now. There are different pieces of art, which represent various important milestones in my life. There are also pictures of my children from the time they were young to adults. Sometimes I think they grew up so fast,” she smiles.

She adds that she cherishes books and they have been her constant and loyal companions. “Upstairs, there is only a section of books that I can fit in, right now. The rest of the books are neatly tucked away in all the four cupboards inside the bedroom. Both of us like to read a lot,” she says.

On asking her about her father Padma Vibhushan recipient Satish Gujral’s influence in her life, she says that she has been fortunate to be the daughter of a true genius, “It’s difficult for anyone to say how their parents have influenced them. By the virtue of being who they are, the best or the worst way of teaching is by example. I feel my father’s shoes are too huge for anyone to fill. So, all of us have chosen a field that pays a tribute to him.”

Navin and Raseel’s pastel coloured walls are covered by stunning artworks. On asking her about the kind of art she has acquired over a period of time, she talks about how her taste has evolved. “Apart from my father’s work, whether it’s canvas or sculpture, the other art that I did acquire over the years was mostly contemporary artists apart from Manjit Bawa, whom I absolutely love and I asked for his painting when I was just 20-years old. And by the time he got around to do it, it was way too expensive. I bought a lot of modern Indian art not necessarily by the point of view of adding value, but purely for appeal. Since the time I started doing graphic art, I use less and less of it. I haven’t bought a piece of art in the last five years. It was also a saturation that I’ve now reached where I can appreciate it and don’t want to acquire any more.”

Her favourite painting in the house is titled “Nancy”, Satish Gujral painted it in 1956, and it was gifted to her when she was 15 years old. It has been with her through many phases of her life. “It’s a very historic painting, both in terms of his life because he painted it when he was in Mexico and mine because it was the first piece of art that given to me,” she adds.

Of Glass Walls

Gujral’s home is not a stone fortress. There is room for a lot of sunlight. “As far as architecture is concerned, whether there is light, landscape or plants, I like there to be very few barriers. But you cannot live in a glass house because climatically it’s not conducive to northern India. Still there’s a lot of glass, but it has been placed in a manner where there are enough walls to balance the outside heat and give a feeling of outdoor. As far as light and a connection with nature is concerned, there’s loads of natural lighting,” she says, as she elaborates on the importance of having enough sunlight in the house.

In terms of artificial lighting, Raseel is a fan of façades. Calling herself a ‘non-automated person’ she admits she likes to build an environment, which is user-friendly from the point of view of the staff as well. “I’m not living in a penthouse or an apartment, which is largely controlled and manned by just one or two people. We have a few settings for lighting in each room--- some, which highlight the art, others which can be ideal to create a party mood. There are about five modes of lighting rather than a complex remote system, which is bound to confuse me,” she smiles.

Gujral remains ambivalent about using solar energy and adds that they do have provision for this and it was part of the plan of the house, even houses they design. But they prefer not to rely on it despite the abundant sunlight. “It is there as a back-up. All the boilers run on solar energy. We have built solar panels on top of the house and as well as rainwater harvesting.”

Interestingly, Raseel Gujral single-handedly took upon the conceptualisation and building of her house as the purpose of the house was to build something beautiful for her future family. “Our home is where the family meets and enjoys. We do not have a big family today but when we do, this will be ideal. It was like a canvas. I was free to draw on it and for once not be answerable to a client,” she says.

And as we are seated in her home office with an impressive ceiling and intriguing graphic artwork, we asked her what is the one piece of technology that you absolutely cannot live without in the house. We thought an answer like her phone or computer would come up, but she surprises us by saying, “I cannot live without motorised drapes.” And we all chortle in amusement thinking what it would be like to hand-draw those enormous drapes, every day!