Necessity, as we’ve long been told, is the mother of invention. Well, it now seems to be the mother of much chic-ness as well. Lado Sarai is a higgledy-piggledy urban village, not too far out from the long shadow of the Qutub Minar. Ostensibly, we are in Prithvi Raj Chauhan territory: the ruins of Qila Rai Pithora wall built by the legendary king in the 12th century stretches in fits and starts (ravages and savages of history have done their bit) from the capriciously tilting Minar to the dusty terrain of Lado Sarai. The sad ruins of four gumbads (domed structures) stand like sentinels from the past, trying to preserve the memories of ancient lives from evaporating into an irretrievable past.

Being a pucca Delhiwala – born but not completely bred here – I had never even heard of the place until very recently. (There are so many sarais -- remnants of old villages that are rapidly being encroached upon by slick urbanites.) Nor had I even accidentally wandered into its narrow, cluttered lanes spilling over with tacky little shops selling the unadorned or nitty-gritty stuff of life from provisions, kitchen utensils, nuts and bolts and clunky hardware to boutiques and studios of fashion designers. Suneet Varma and Aki Narula set up their studios here some years ago.

Today, this little bit of almost-forgotten Mughul Delhi seems to be metamorphosing into an art district – an embryonic SoHo with its chic boutiques and art galleries. I first went to Lado Sarai a couple of weeks ago for the opening of the ever-elegant Mala Aneja’s gallery Art-Motif’s new home. You could have struck me down with a feather. After navigating the narrow road – just about escaping with our car still intact after an encounter with a boisterous bridal party on the move, escorting the groom on a horse – we suddenly stopped short at the glass-fronted entrance manned by liveried doormen.

Previously housed in the basement of a home in Safdarjang Enclave, Art-Motif was a rather cute little gallery frequented by those in the know and in search of fresh young talent. In its new avatar it is more like Cinderella, post-wand. High ceilings and a series of well-lit rooms flowing into each other do justice to the private collection of canvases on view at the inaugural opening.

Clearly, that wand is transforming many other small galleries into belles of the art ball – and, into the realm of BoHo chic in Lado Sarai. The blueprint for the spunky ‘colonisation’ of these urban villages is Hauz Khas village. Bina Ramani is its Christopher Columbus and later areas like Shapur Jat and Khirkee villages became the stomping ground of the arterati. Art-Motif is just the third gallery to have set up shop in Lado Sarai in recent times. Gallery Threshold opens its doors this summer to an even more cavernous space and higher ceilings. It was originally located in a much smaller space in Sarvodya Enclave. The peripatetic Tunty Chauhan often held her major and large shows in public spaces in the city.

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