The Treasure is all Mine! :)

Do I sound greedy? Naah naah...its not the greed. It is a feeling just like for a sailor finding treasure on a lone island...have you ever felt like that?

Wandering around the city sometimes for work or while just walking along the road could be very beneficial. It has been for me a number of times. This month I decided to dig out my treasure and recollect every piece I picked up all along my way...

In Pune, we have this wonderful yet crowded place where you get a lot of thrifty stuff. Or let me make it simple, the name says it all, "Joona Bazaar", meaning sale of old stuff! Old is gold, right? So Bipin & I decided to go and see if that is true.

We walked through the stuffy lanes and loud vendors just hoping to come across some interesting old stuff. We saw people selling tarps and coins, some discounted bags, old furniture, etc. We decided to go a bit deeper into the narrow lanes where people chewed tobacco, some sipped tea and some chatted in clusters. Thats when we spotted something spectacular and unique!. A 55 kg brass trunk with stunning embellishments found a 100 years ago...and after a small research on this, I figured no such piece has been created in the recent 75 years! And there was no way we were going to leave it behind! We negotiated a good price and though it was still on the higher side, we bought it.





In the same place some other time, with my friend Aditi, we walked through the crowded dusty lanes. This time a little girl of about 10 years was selling some smaller antiques. She didn't have more than 20 pieces of unique trinkets in brass. I bought a strange retro-rustic water container with a face of a cow as its spout. It was pretty and perfect for my living room! Further, I found a pair of intricate brass shot glasses with Meenakari work. Pieces of art I should say! Bipin was in for a surprise that day and it adds to our collection of shot glasses.





I know...you might be a bit bored of my stories of Joona Bazaar, but believe me...it is the only place I like to shop! My next stop was in Hubli...no no, don't worry, I didn't go there to see antiques, but to meet a very dear friend Siddharth. Since he'd shifted to Hubli, we decided to travel there to see him. In the heart of the city is his beautiful home with a fortune of antiques, I guess a collection from his ancestral times. Thats when I took some pictures of chairs which they use daily. I thought, how lucky! :) Loved them and wanted to bring them all to Pune!



Then came an awesome coincidence! My mother was walking past a shop where they basically sell everything from second hand furniture to newspapers and even coconuts. She spotted a fine-looking old teak wood cupboard. It was bulky yet simple and carved aesthetically! She called me right away, paid the guy to reserve it and asked me to come along immediately. I bought it, refurbished and use it as a filing cabinet...Thanks to my mother, its at home now!





A friends's friends called me one day and suggested me to stop by his home which was going to be demolished soon. He wanted to get rid of his antiques which I found very weird but nevertheless, I had a chance to buy them off him. I picked up a long churner which was traditionally used by women to whip buttermilk. These women stood tall and churned a huge pot of buttermilk which today we buy in tetrapacks. :) Whether I whip it myself or not, I do have an ancient churner at home! :)





The same friend also had just one window grill made with beautiful Sagwan or teak wood. Gorgeous as it was, I picked it up and transformed it to a blue chandelier I have in my studio!



Another of my very exclusive treasure is the "Taala" or a huge, heavy, ornate lock! It has such beautifully carved keys which work so fabulously. I was off to coastal Karnataka to a small town called Gokarna for my cousin Sonals wedding. Gokarna is known for its deep blue sea, an ancient temple of Shiva and a lane full of deity accessory shopping! In our spare time, while the bride was dressing up, we wandered around the city, one store had this 'taala' hung on a cabinet. We asked him if he could sell it to us and he replied, "why not?" :)



So many people, experiences and places are involved in my collection of these aged treasures...love them and I hope this collection adds on..