By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Jaipur: The antique business is a blooming market across the world, but it is very likely that in India, many people would have never heard of this business. The market is mostly male-dominated, but Aroob Abdul Aziz, 33, has made sure that she makes her presence felt. In 2013, she took up this business and established a company named LIMRA group. LIMRA stands for La ilaha ill-Allah Muhammadur Rasulullah.
“It is a male-dominated business…females, you hardly come across any,” says Aroob, who was born and brought up in Jaipur, Rajasthan and completed her schooling from St. Angela Sophia School in Jaipur. She did her Graduation in Arts and Post Graduation in English Literature from the University of Rajasthan before moving to Symbiosis Pune to do an MBA in Sales & Marketing.
Before entering the antique business, Aroob worked in Sales and Marketing team of Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar, India News and Network 18 for around 10 years.
“Dealing with antiques is my family business. My grandfather Lt. Abdul Samad and my father Lt. Mohd Abdul Aziz both were renowned antique dealers. Our firm name is “The Gramophone House”, so after working in media, I thought of taking up my own family business so as to take it to new heights and then registered my own company,” Aroob told TwoCircles.net.
With a personal interest in antiques, Aroob set up her company in 2013 which dealt with various kinds of gramophones and records along with other trendy objects. The company, which started with just a few employees, today employs around 18 people. As the business requires huge investment, Aroob took a loan and started the business with a small investment and got a good response. Presently, her company is manufacturing 150-200 gramophones every month.
The company has both Indian and foreign clients but foreigners dominate her client list. “Foreigner have more craving for antiques, so I have more foreign clients than the ones from within the country,” she says.
“Indian market is growing and earlier people were not having much knowledge about it, but gradually they are becoming aware of the value and importance of antiques,” she adds. Aroob feels that India has a 10,000 crore rupees antique market which isn’t fully tapped due to the laws governing this trade. “There are more than Rs 100 crore antique items in India. If we consider the price for each item to be Rs 100, the total potential would be of more than Rs10,000 crore rupees,” Aroob says.
India’s antique business is highly regulated and governed by the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, passed in 1972 and notified in 1976, under which all objects more than 100 years old have to be registered with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) along with a photograph. If a person does not register or wrongly registers the object, he or she can be punished. The act also gives the ASI powers to raid any house if it feels antique items have been stored wrongfully.
“Due to such a draconian law, the potential market for antique business is not fully tapped. If it is amended, then it would give jobs to lakhs of people in India. We have a rich history and very rich antique pieces, which is to be tapped in a manner so that trade can be established without any fear,” Aroob told TwoCircles.net.
In December 2017, Aroob was awarded the Youngest Muslim Women Entrepreneur award Rajasthan Muslim Achievers Award 2017. “It was really a proud moment for me and my family but at the same time feelings were mixed because I want to see more of my Muslim sisters to get such awards. We have to move ahead as a community, not the individuals,” she said.
Aroob feels happy that people within the community have understood the value of education in last few years and feels that girls should be allowed some freedom. “Forget business, they didn’t even want a girl child to do the job which is really saddening. But I feel they should be left free to chase their dreams,” she says.
In 2013, Aroob took the dealership of NISSAN, a Noida-based company which deals in elevators and escalators for Rajasthan. Her unit has completed almost 50 projects in Rajasthan and it is extending its base towards Gurugram, Delhi, and Noida. She is also looking forward to setting a bouncers agency and has applied for the license of same.