Tarun Tahiliani often repeats sections of his quotes, but he makes it mean something utterly novel each time. “We are all contradictions, a million mutinies,” he had said about India when interviewed against the backdrop of the 25-year anniversary of his eponymous couture brand in February 2020.

Twenty-two months later, the India sentiment has a different sort of meaning. “Instead of million mutinies as VS Naipaul called it, we need to focus on some homogeneity in our diversity, and this is going to be our story,” Tahiliani told the media at the launch of Tasva, a new bridge-to-luxury menswear brand he launched last week in Varanasi in partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL).