Oijo Delhi

16/08/2023

“I do not journey
Nor do I arrive
Believer nor an Infidel
As myself I thrive
I am that, I was before,
This day and for evermore”

— Madho Lal Hussain

These words set the tone for a mesmerising tale.

Here are 5 reasons we love ‘The Sufi’s Nightingale’ by :

1. It shines a spotlight on the life of ‘Madho Lal Hussain’, a fascinating figure in the cultural and religious history of the Indian subcontinent. His life, teachings and poetry serve as a window not just into love and faith, but also pluralistic traditions our civilization was built on.

2. ‘The Sufi’s Nightingale’ is a marvellous work of historical fiction. Oijo also runs the ‘Indian History Collective’, which should tell you how much we love history. But historical fiction transcends boundaries of historical knowledge, pushing on into the land of ‘what if’— where historians fear to tread. Employing the voices of Hussain and Maqbool, ‘The Sufi’s Nightingale’ manages this beautifully.

3. Sufism is a universe. But, instead of a lazy reliance on the generic, ‘The Sufi’s Nightingale’ dives deep into the specific experience of the Malamati Sufis. It explores their multi-hued lives in Lahore’s ‘Bazaar e Husn’, following the trail of love, heartbreak, scandal and spiritual triumph which leads Lal Hussain to become ‘Shah Hussain’— the king of faqirs.

4. Who doesn’t love poetry? We do too, and ‘The Sufi’s Nightingale’ brings us a treasure trove, doubly precious because it is translated from 16th century Punjabi.

5. ‘The Sufi’s Nightingale’ makes one think of boundaries between gender, caste and faith, and how one may rise above, without wearing this on its sleeve. It doesn’t preach but, instead, shows you worlds woven out of paradox, through characters like Madho, Shah Hussain’s Hindu disciple, Maqbool, a youth from the oppressed Marassi community and Amba, Lahore’s famous courtesan. ‘The Sufi’s Nightingale’—much like the mausoleum where Hussain and Madho lie buried together, the annual Mela Chiraghan, where thousands gather to worship, sing and dance, or, indeed, the name ‘Madho Lal Hussain’, both Hindu and Muslim as well as beyond such classifications—simply is. It invites you to be.

14/08/2023

Our take on Diana Vreeland’s iconic Why Don’t You columns of yore. Why don’t you tell us what you think?

14/07/2023

Choosing the right art for the walls of our conference room was no mean feat. We wanted mood, energy, mystique, beauty and more. The search ended with these images from Himanshi Shah's Tokyo series. They perfectly offset the elegant decorum of the room and serve as a mood board that signals discovery, possibility and adventure.

03/07/2023

A year ago, we started working on the Freedom project with - a collaborative project between India and Germany commemorating 75 years of Indian independence. Artists, authors and thinkers from India and Germany explored the question: How is freedom perceived today? What makes people free? Where does freedom find its limits, and what are its conditions? Where is freedom currently threatened, and how can it be protected? What potential for freedom do arts offer? How do individual freedom and society relate to each other?

The project yielded writing and art across mediums making it a journey we are delighted and grateful to have taken.

14/06/2023

Favourite Corner - Ranjana

My favourite office corner has to be the couch with the neon sign above it proclaiming effervescently ‘This must be the place’. It is the first thing to greet you in the morning and something about the vivid nocturnal neons gives me a strange sense of belonging. I had to really fight against my circumstances to get where l am and do what l love. Sometimes it feels so surreal and l almost get lost in a sense of melancholic joy as it hits me that l really did manifest my dream to work as a ‘Graphic Designer’. This sign feels like a gentle whisper from the universe reassuring me that l’m in the right place.

07/06/2023

We asked our collaborator Rachna Kalra () for 5 do’s and don’ts when it comes to PR in publishing houses and now takes on publicity and strategy work for select titles. She is brilliant at what she does and we look forward to many more projects with her.

29/05/2023

Throwback to this fun Oijo evening in collaboration with . We love all that Terrain is doing to bring digital art, NFTs and young artists to the forefront and are ardent followers of their work. This sip and see party Oijo threw at an early exhibition by Terrain at featured custom cocktails designed by us and mixed by Greater Than (), DJ Skip () and a really exciting guest list.

To more such perfect Oijo summer evenings!

29/05/2023

18/05/2023

We are delighted to be partnering with the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival at SOAS, London this weekend (20th and 21st May, 2023). The festival will feature an exciting mix of authors and speakers from diverse backgrounds who’ll be conversing on the theme of ‘Connecting Futures’.

An entirely volunteer-led festival, KSLF began in the mountains of Kasauli a dozen years ago, where the iconoclast writer Khushwant Singh had a home and did most of his writing. It has always been a festival with a purpose where ideals and values take centre stage.

Follow all the action at

13/05/2023

The iconic Jaipur Literature Festival is going to in the magical islands of Maldives. If you are lucky enough to attend, catch our co-founder who is speaking on four panels between the 16th and 21st of May 2023. And if like us you are stuck at work follow all the action on !

25/04/2023

Some more love for indie publishing - this time a digital publication co-founded by Oijo alumnus Mansi that counts our own co-founder Pragya as a Patron Shepherd.

In their own words,

“The Blahcksheep is a democratic, feminist and multilingual publishing platform. At a time when media houses are getting increasingly commercialized and biased, we strive to be a platform for unfiltered, unique, and contrarian voices from across the world.

For us, The Blahcksheep is not just a platform, but a community of misfits and rebels. We’re committed to offering a space to new and first-time writers and mixed media artists, and present perspectives from outside of the largest cities. This is why we also have a dedicated column that publishes articles that have been previously rejected by other publishing platforms.”

17/04/2023

This stunning photograph by hangs in our office and is our forever Monday Mood - Languidly emerging from the weekend and raring to go.

Raihan R Vadra is a photographer whose work explores themes of control, freedom, memory and perception. He started out as a wildlife photographer and has done some of his best work in that genre.

10/04/2023

In which we talk about our favourite corners from the Oijo office.

It has to be the balcony railing from across where I sit. Everything really, that dots my line of sight, starting from where I sit to the panorama. This would include the sliding doors that have never known grime for as long as I’ve been here. I like to call them the ‘doors of perception’. Oh, and that marble ashtray, that marks the center of my frame. Beyond that is a tree of what look to me like sea figs. All of this makes up roughly 60% of my (secret) side glance, the remaining 30% is what makes it my favorite place. It’s either one of my bosses, or my coworkers, hanging out in that spot, taking a moment. Whenever someone’s out there for a break, or a smoke, I try and join them or simply watch them take the shifting light in. It’s beautiful. If you took a seat next to me, you’d know what I mean. -

14/03/2023

Nothing we love more than independent publishing and as far as zines go, The Irregular Times has our full attention and admiration. This art and design newspaper edited by Tarini Sethi ( ) and published by Anant Ahuja ( ) brings perspectives that matter, provoke and excite the imagination at the intersection of politics, art, media, activism and contemporary culture. You are likely to discover diverse and incredible talent on these pages and find new energy for your own ideas and projects.

The March issue of the quarterly honours women’s voices and points of view. It foregrounds the power and diversity of women's stories and mounts a challenge to oppressive structures that seek to silence them. All through striking images and sparse but sharp narratives.

Get your copy on

07/02/2023

📢 Hiring Alert - Oijo is looking for a Graphic Designer to join our team. We are looking for someone who will develop distinct visual languages for us and our clients and is abreast of trends and updates on the social media front. This is a full-time position that requires working out of our office in Delhi.

Swipe to read the job description and apply for this position with your CV and portfolio at [email protected]

07/02/2023

Multidisciplinary illustrator and artist .siva hails from Tamil Nadu and is currently based in Goa. In Siva’s works one often finds the themes of femininity, sexuality and gender meeting at the interface of technology and society. We here at Oijo love how her dreamscapes resonate with our own ideals of feminine empowerment.

Siva’s unique style, which she prefers to call ‘summer futurism’ (that derives from Afrofuturism), accommodates mythology as well as her Dalit and Tamilian ancestry to imagine futures through the lens of surrealism, speculative fiction and science fiction. No surprise then, that we have her art on the walls of the Oijo office.

Check out her solo show ‘Vessel’ at , on view till 18th March 2023.

27/01/2023

This week, Prakriti from our team picked her favourite detail from the Oijo office.

“I’ve picked Art Deco: The Golden Age of Graphic Art and Illustration from the Oijo bookshelf. It celebrates and illustrates the expression of the Art Deco movement - tracing its visual history through the decade. It offers such an expansive range of art - honestly, I can’t stop looking at it”.

11/01/2023

In a tribute to the iconic Diana Vreeland, we take a stab at our own Why Don't You column. Swipe and consider - Why Don't You!

Happy New Year x

28/11/2022

No one we could have trusted to deliver the fragrance of Oijo this winter more than .design .
This blend of wild rose and cinnamon now pervades every corner of our office. 🤎🍁🥀🕯

23/10/2022

From darkness, unto light*

Happy Diwali 💫

*with apologies to Raja Ravi Verma

22/10/2022

It is a .india Diwali for Oijo 🪄💫

10/10/2022

And that's a wrap from team Oijo at

._

It has been real 😅🕺🏽💜

17/09/2022

The board that announces us outside our office had to be special. So we commissioned , one of Mumbai's last remaining poster artists, and worked with him to imagine our logo as a hand painted poster of a blockbuster of yore. We couldn't have been happier with the results 💜

13/06/2022

Shout out to some of our favorite creative professionals, artists and creators from the LGBTQI+ community. Representation matters. Happy Pride Month!

Left to Right - .art

Cover art - 'Dream Girls', Deborah Bright

30/05/2022

Excited to be working with Goethe-Institut India] on this wonderful project. If you're an artist, writer, photographer, or filmmaker, look up the details and apply now 🪄
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Posted • Goethe-Institut India] Are you an artist, writer or filmmaker based in India or Germany? Then this call is for you! As India gears up for the 75th year of independence, we are inviting proposals that seek to explore the idea of freedom through the lens of art, film, music, poetry, prose, performance and photography.

We are asking what it takes to break free from social and cultural expectations and conditioning. How do we negotiate the labels that seek to define us? When layers of predetermined identity are stripped away, what makes us truly ourselves? And, furthermore, when global events such as the Covid19 pandemic constrict our freedom, how can we transcend our circumstances by exercising our imagination?

An external jury will select up to 25 proposals for development and the finished works will receive an honorarium of INR 27,000 / Euro 350 as well as be published on our website.

So, what are you waiting for? Apply now!

Application deadline - 14 June 2022



For more information and frequently asked questions, visit our website via the link in bio.

20/05/2022

When it comes to creative direction and styling we often draw inspiration from artists who play with the boundaries between perception and reality. Tauseef Khan is a Delhi based contemporary artist who juxtaposes familiar monuments, objects and landscapes against suspended glassware. 

Through the screen of the glassware, light distorts, patterns are amplified and new shapes created, evoking something new altogether - reminds you of a truth we all tend to overlook: each and everything we see is our perception of its reality.

His paintings draw our attention to details, shapes, and challenges our ideas and perspectives about what we behold. 

22/04/2022

We have often been asked what it is exactly that we are best at and the answer perhaps is helping brands, founders, institutions and organizations find their highest selves. Increasingly that includes working with them on rethinking their carbon footprint and their legacy vis a vis sustainability. It's the sort of work that makes us feel good about who we are and what we do and hopeful about the future despite all the grim news. This we pledge to go further, do more to