Before you order
Kairali Arts Centre is a music and dance school in Sharjah. The shop exists so that the weavers, printers and instrument makers we work with in Kerala and across India can sell to people who would otherwise never find them.
That is also why a few things work differently here than at a large online store, and we would rather you knew all of them before you pay than after. It takes two minutes to read.
How your piece is made and sent
Most of what you see here is not sitting in a warehouse. It is made by hand by a small workshop or a family of artisans, and a good deal of it is shipped to you directly from them or from our partner in India, rather than passing through our centre in Sharjah first. In the trade this is called dropshipping; in practice it means your piece travels from the person who made it to you.
We hold some stock ourselves — the heritage shirts in Sharjah and in Bonn, for instance — and those we pack and post to you. The product page tells you which is which.
We mention it because it affects how long a piece takes to reach you, and who handles it on the way. It is not a detail we would want you to discover from a tracking page.
Customs duty and local charges
The price you pay at checkout is for the piece and its delivery. It does not include any customs duty, import VAT, clearance fee or handling charge that your own country may apply when the parcel arrives.
Those charges are payable by you, the buyer, directly to the carrier or to your customs authority. They vary by country and by the value of the parcel, and we have no way to pay them on your behalf or to predict them accurately.
Orders inside the United Arab Emirates are handled under UAE law and are usually free of any additional import charge. Orders travelling into the EU, the UK, India or elsewhere may attract one.
Sizes — please read if you are buying clothing
Our shirts are cut to Indian sizing, which is not the same as UK, EU or US sizing. An Indian large is generally closer to a UK medium. If you order the size you normally wear at home, there is a real chance it will not fit.
| Indian size (ours) | Chest, approx. | Closest UK / EU |
|---|---|---|
| M (38) | 38 in / 96 cm | UK S |
| L (40) | 40 in / 102 cm | UK M |
| XL (42) | 42 in / 107 cm | UK L |
| XXL (44) | 44 in / 112 cm | UK XL |
The figures above are a guide, not a guarantee — these are handmade garments and there is natural variation between pieces. Please measure a shirt you already own across the chest and compare, rather than going by the letter.
If you are unsure, message us before you order and we will measure the actual piece for you. We would far rather spend five minutes on that than have you post a shirt back across a border.
Returns, and what we can and cannot do
If a piece is faulty, damaged in transit, or is not what you ordered, tell us and we will put it right. That is not a favour and it is not conditional.
If you simply do not want it, or it does not fit, we will accept it back on these terms:
- Tell us within 14 days of the parcel arriving.
- The piece comes back unworn, unwashed and in its packaging.
- You arrange and pay for the return postage, and you send it with a tracked service.
- We refund once the piece has physically reached one of our addresses below and we have checked it. Not when it is posted — when it arrives.
M7, Meena Pharmacy Building,
Mohammad Al Ahmadani Building,
Umm Al Tarafa, Sharjah,
United Arab Emirates
173 Heerstrasse
53111 Bonn
Germany
Please write to us before sending anything back, so we can tell you which address to use and expect the parcel. A return that arrives unannounced is a return we cannot match to an order.
We are a small school, not a returns depot. Paying return postage both ways on a handmade piece would cost more than the piece itself, and that cost would end up in everybody's prices. This is the honest version instead.
If a parcel goes missing
Where a parcel has been sent with a tracked service and the tracking shows it lost in transit, we will take it up with the carrier and replace or refund your order.
Where a parcel has been sent by an untracked method — usually because that was the only option to the destination, and always with your agreement — there is no record for anyone to trace, and we are not able to replace it. We will tell you clearly at checkout when that is the case.
Made-to-order and customised pieces
Instruments, personalised items and anything made to your measurements or specification are begun only after you order and cannot be resold to anyone else. These cannot be returned because you have changed your mind. If one arrives faulty or not as described, your rights are unaffected and we will put it right.
Payment and your rights
Payment is taken by Stripe. We never see or store your card details.
Kairali Arts Centre is licensed in Sharjah (licence 522247) and these terms are governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates. Nothing on this page removes any right you have under UAE consumer protection law, or under the consumer law of your own country where that applies to you. Where anything here conflicts with a right you hold by law, the law wins.
Questions before you order? Message the store on WhatsApp or email kairaliartscentre@gmail.com. We would much rather answer first.
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