VR Punjab stamps its love for state

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 14

VR (Virtuous Retail) Punjab, a shopping mall located on the Chandigarh-Kharar road, celebrated its first Lohri with a nine-day festival ‘Lohri Shagna Di’.

The festivities culminated on Sunday, with the unveiling of the iconic ‘I Love Punjab’ calligraphic installation by 102-year-old Man Kaur, who holds world records in ‘Over 100 years old’ categories for a variety of sporting events.

Otherwise, a Singapore-based company, Virtuous Retail Centre has its Indian headquarters in Bangalore. It took over North Country Mall in April last year and changed the mall’s name to VR Punjab in September. The installation propagates the company’s philosophy of connecting communities by creating a vibrant multi-use community centre that serves as an urban oasis for families to celebrate culture and traditions. Jermina Menon, Vice-President (marketing) of VR Centre, said Surat’s ‘I Love Duma Square’, made in 2013, was the company’s first such calligraphy installation. While makeshift booths selling food, clothes, and Punjabi juttis, extended a mela-like ambiance to the mall, the charpoys, 25-year-old rickshaw, a bullock cart, and a tractor, on the mall’s porch denoted numerous elements that represent Punjabis and their way of life.