Vogue IN 12.2021

12
Alina Vadera-Talwar,
33, DESIGN DIRECTOR, AVA STUDIO, DELHI
If you’ve spent time shopping and brunching in Delhi,

chances are you’re familiar with Vadera-Talwar’s work. The
Indian fashion world’s go-to, she has designed the flagship
store for Shantanu & Nikhil, Rahul Mishra, Bhaane (besides
all the Ogaan stores across India), and most recently, that of
Amit Aggarwal (where she collaborated with Orproject on
the sculptural wall partitions). What makes her such a city
favourite (she’s also designed popular Delhi hangouts such as
Coast Cafe and Dear Donna) is her elegant, comfort-oriented
aesthetic, a refreshing change from the opulent sensibility all
around. “My design sense is relaxed but edited. I gravitate

towards simplicity, but with a quirk,” she says.
UP NEXT: Homes in Rishikesh and a new furniture line that

will be out next year. —Shahnaz Siganporia

Shruti Jaipuria,

38, FOUNDER, MAIA DESIGN,

13BENGALURU

Jaipuria is the final word in design for
Bengaluru’s restaurant scene. Having trained

in New York under architect Tony Chi,
this Parsons graduate focuses on creating
tangible experiences by imagining life-size
murals and dramatic lighting, among other
e ects. The brain behind some of the best

eateries in Bengaluru (take the playful
interiors of Toast & Tonic), her roster has
now extended to include high-end residences
in the city, as well as in Kolkata. “Through my
work, I’ve explored thikri work from Udaipur,
thathera brass work from Jaipur and lacquer
from Channapatna,” she says of her crafts-
based approach, which has been key to
designing the candy-coloured sushi parlour
Lucky Chan and the theatrical restaurant

Rika at the Park Hyatt, Hyderabad.
UP NEXT: A microbrewery in Bengaluru,
nestled among eucalyptus trees, plus a few
luxury homes in the city. —Sonal Ved >

www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 51

GALLERY 14 Priyanka Narula,
36, FOUNDER, THE WICKER STORY AND PRELAB
DESIGN STUDIO, HYDERABAD
Known for her dream weaves, Narula launched The Wicker
Story in 2018 as an o -shoot of her Hyderabad-based practice
Prelab Design Studio, which she runs with her architect-husband
Kasi Raju. “It happened by accident. I started to develop
products because, as architects, we wanted to work with
innovative pieces,” says the graduate from IAAC, Barcelona,
who has previously worked with architect Vishal Agarwal’s
Brick by Brick and Manit and Sonali Rastogi’s Morphogenesis.
Sculpting earthy wicker into imaginative, architectural forms,
Narula transforms the chosen material for outdoor furniture
into centrepieces for homes. Pieces like her Imli Bench explore
her obsession with complex geometries and form, while simple
masterpieces like her Bloom Bench (shortlisted for the Lexus
Design Award 2021) that curves into a flower at the edges,
showcase her dexterity with the material. “A product is useless
if it’s not comfortable, so we want to be able to balance form
and function,” she says of her practical art pieces, which were on
display at the recently concluded London Craft Week, where she
collaborated with designer Jehanara Knowles’s Kam Ce Kam.
UP NEXT: Besides working on farmhouses in Hyderabad, she’s
developing a product collaboration for Made In Earth
and Muselab.

Devyani Gupta, 15

34, ARCHITECT, INTRIGUE DESIGNS
STUDIO + LABS, DESIGNER, VAKR, DELHI

A chemistry graduate from St Stephen’s College,
Gupta arrived at architecture through a circuitous path.
After a bachelor’s degree from Sushant School Of Art

and Architecture, she enrolled at IAAC, Barcelona,
where she specialised in digital architecture. “That
place was a melting point of engineers, geologists,
and so many people at the intersection of art and
architecture who were interested in working with
technology and computer-aided design,” she recalls.
This alchemy of art and science is the touchstone of
her architectural practice, Intrigue Designs Studio +
Labs, which she launched with Nehit Vij a decade ago,
and the duo’s latest furniture arm, Vakr (Sanskrit for
steep curve), which kick-started last April during the
pandemic. “With Vakr, we are trying to blur the lines
between furniture, art and sculpture while retaining the
utility of each piece of furniture,” says Gupta, whose
debut furniture line Lehar fuses rattan with concrete
and wood to form experimental pieces that break
the conventions of shape, size and form to present a
catalogue of utilitarian chairs, tables and shelving units.
UP NEXT: A new vibrant furniture series that spotlights

Madhubani art along with metal with jute yarn.

52 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

16 Farah Ahmed Mathias,
36, PARTNER AND PRINCIPAL DESIGNER, FADD STUDIO, BENGALURU

It’s hard to tell Ahmed Mathias’s projects apart. Dynamic and ever-changing, her studio’s catalogue of audacious residential projects
and quirky hospitality spaces do not carry a signature style, but rather, reflect the idiosyncrasies of her clients. “We try not to stick to one
style, making every home different,” says the Bengaluru-based mother of two, who graduated from Istituto Marangoni in Milan, and after
a short stint in advertising, pursued design under the tutelage of Sandeep Khosla at Khosla Associates. In 2012, she branched out to start
FADD Studio with Dhaval Shellugar and today, the duo form one of the premier design studios in Bengaluru which has stubbornly resisted
pigeonholing its range in terms of style. Its work comprises magical residential spaces, both in vibrant colours of the rainbow and sparse

ones in monotones of black and white. With its latest hospitality projects, a grungy Asian restaurant called Misu and a pub called 1522
(whose design was inspired by a conservatory), the duo seem eager to showcase the whimsical side of design.

UP NEXT: A beautiful cliff house in Goa, a villa in Coonoor, a holiday home in Alibaug and homes in Mumbai and Chennai are just some of
Mathias’s upcoming projects outside of Bengaluru. — Sonal Ved >

18Isha Gopal,

35, DESIGNER, FOUNDER,
BLOON TOYS, MUMBAI

“I stumbled into design as a means
to an end. I was exploring the space
of education and realised just how

intrinsic self-directed play was to
intuitive learning,” says Gopal, a
self-taught designer and a maths
graduate who completed her MBA
from ISB before dabbling in a
teacher’s training course in Waldorf
education. From there, in 2018, came
the desire to create toys that didn’t
come with a manual and invited
open-ended play. Take her bestselling
Curvy Board, which can be a rocking
chair, a balance board, a stool or even
a rainbow or makeshift tunnel home,
depending on a child’s imagination.
Sparely designed and Scandinavian
in style, her thoughtfully designed
toys come in natural materials
(birch, neem, wool and beeswax) and
reinvent time-tested designs (take
her polyhedric Zen blocks, inspired
by the Japanese tumi ishi), that

encourage imaginative play.
UP NEXT: A climber inspired by the

Pikler Triangle.

17
Sarah Sham,

33, PRINCIPAL DESIGNER, ESSAJEES ATELIER, MUMBAI

Even a lockdown couldn’t slow down the indomitable Sham. Completing
eight interior projects since last March (including a 6,000sqft o ce in
Mumbai’s Churchgate neighbourhood that was inspired by a tree house), she
not only worked through the pandemic, but went a step ahead: “I delivered on
Thursday and was back to meetings on Monday,” says the new mother. Eight
years ago, this art history graduate from Oxford University decided to turn
to interior design. A degree from Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture
prepared her to take on a leading role in her 120-year-old family business.
With Essajees Atelier, the interior design arm of the parent company, Sham
infuses a bright, contemporary spark through her work and personality.
UP NEXT: Two 10,000sqft penthouses in Hyderabad, along with family
homes in Surat and Kolkata. She is also designing a beautiful duplex in Juhu

with 14ft-high ceilings alongside a show flat in South Mumbai.

54 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

GALLERY

20Vritima Wadhwa,
32, FURNITURE-INTERIOR DESIGNER,
PROJECT 810, DELHI

19Mridhula Chandramohan, After a decade of infusing Indian homes with a
pared-back, modern flair, in 2020, this NID Ahmedabad
27, CO-FOUNDER, SAMSARA, CHENNAI graduate decided to launch her debut line of furniture

which turned humble materials into heart-warming
pieces for contemporary homes. And while Wadhwa’s
multidisciplinary practice continues to engage across
retail (Artisan Lab), hospitality (Fio Pop, New Delhi),

o ces (Shantanu & Nikhil’s studio and o ce) and
multiple residential projects, her minimalist, handcrafted

furniture line carries forward her design explorations
with earthy materials like concrete, terrazzo and other
stones. Comprising everything from lighting to room
dividers and tables to chairs, her soulful pieces include a
three-legged Rumi chair and a chiaroscuro-e ect Renga
screen. “We are a holistic practice dedicated to creating
memorable spatial experiences. From crafting detailed
pieces of furniture to building expansive interiors, our
strength lies in the flexibility of our expertise,” says the
designer, who is currently working on her second line of

austere-meets-elegant furniture, out in 2022.
UP NEXT: A new retail space for Outhouse in Mumbai’s

Palladium, a spa in the capital and the farmhouse of
gallerist Shefali Somani in Delhi. ■

For Chandramohan, sustainability not only informs her
lifestyle but also her designs. In 2016, after interning

with Niels Schoenfelder’s Mancini Enterprises and
RSP Design in Bengaluru, the architecture graduate
from Chennai started her practice RAW Architecture
with Pradyumna Rao. Two years on, the duo launched
Samsara, their recycled furniture leg that repurposes
plastic waste into utilitarian furniture pieces, assisted
by the Netherlands-based Precious Plastic’s open-source
recycling machines. This passion project has now turned
into their preoccupation. “I used to go surfing, and seeing
milk and biscuit packets 10 metres into the ocean was
so disheartening,” says Chandramohan. “As designers, we
wanted to use our knowledge in design and find a way
to flip the ecological impact by adding value to waste
material.” Since then, their designs, like a lounge chair
made using eight kilos of recycled plastic, have won
nods from eco crusader design legends such as Rosanna
Orlandi and have been showcased globally at events like
the Dutch Design Week in 2019. During the pandemic,
they created a hands-free sanitisation station using
plastic waste from takeaway containers, plastic bottles

and CD cases.
UP NEXT: Collaborations with jewellery brand Studio
Love Letter as well as design studios like Josmo and
Vincent Roy’s Wood’n Design. They will also release a
new collection of outdoor furniture made from waste

plastic in this month.

www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 55

Natural instincts

As science confirms our brain’s deep connections
with our environment, architects and designers catch
up by blurring the lines between the indoors and
outdoors for a calmer, more synergetic life. Renuka
Modi explores the growing interest around biophilia

I n September this year, I took my first family break in two monsoon breeze and the sun on my face that proved to be most
years. Buoyed by double vaccinations, we travelled to cathartic. I realised how much I had missed the outdoors.
Ranthambore in the hope of a big-cat sighting. Settled into
a luxurious tent surrounded by frangipani trees and creep- Through lockdown and being stuck indoors came a collective
ing bougainvillea, I spent much of my time sitting outside, my appreciation of how therapeutic the outdoors is—and how critical
Zoom-fatigued eyes getting much-needed relief. A thrilling tiger it is to our emotional well-being. It’s the reason why influencers
sighting was definitely the highlight of the visit, but it was driving like PlantKween have found a massive following among millen-
around in an open jeep, deep in the national park, feeling a light nial plant parents and built careers on Instagrams. The pandemic
also witnessed an uptick in plant sales like never before. And it

56 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

TREND

Above: The 6.5-acre Titan Integrity seems quarantine also gave a new lease to biophilia, with the
Campus in Bengaluru by Mindspace is design world offering solutions to our cooped-up life by turning to
built around a natural lake and features nature’s restorative powers. The American psychologist Erich
green cascading walls and solar panelled Fromm first used the term biophilia in 1973, describing it as ‘the
terraces. Top right: SP+A designed the passionate love of life and of all that is alive’. Nearly a decade later,
Maya Somaiya Library with a curved brick the American biologist Edward O Wilson used the term in his
roof and angular glazed windows that work Biophilia to explain that the human tendency to crave
nature is genetic. Today, biophilia is a thriving design practice that
allow light to enter through the day is focused on increasing our exposure to green surroundings by
tapping into nature’s mood-lifting abilities.

As humans, we are essentially an outdoor species. Over time, we
moved into caves, which eventually evolved into our present-day
urban jungles. This shift made us distant from nature, and along
came the stress of urban life. Simply put, biophilia is built around
the fact that humans are happiest around nature. It accommo-
dates the elements of nature in design via natural light manage-
ment, ventilation, greenery and natural materials.

INSIDE OUT

The award-winning Kerala-based design firm Lijo.Reny has been
harnessing this innate human desire to connect with nature in its
designs for over two decades. “Human beings are designed to be
outdoors—to connect with plants and animals. We’ve always fo-
cused on blurring the lines between the outdoors and the indoors,
the built and the unbuilt,” explains Lijo Jos, one half of the Thris-
sur-based firm that features path-breaking projects that use the
elements of nature as elements of design. Jos explains that his ar-
chitectural firm makes a conscious effort to incorporate elements
of natural light, water, wind and greenery into every project. >

www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 57

Clockwise from left: Sameep
Padora’s SP+A built the
Jetavan Spiritual Centre in
Maharashtra without harming
a single tree on the site. Lijo.
Reny designed The House That
Rains Light, a biophilc home
where several landscaped
pockets like the garden (left)
and plant wall (below) not only
attract butterflies, insects and
birds but also help lower the
temperature inside the house.
Inside, a series of skylights
offer ample light through
the day. Bottom left: Core
Architecture Pune designed the
Elantas Beck India Ltd office
by creating gardens as links
between different office blocks

TREND

As a long-time champion of biophilia, he’s concerned about the LESS IS MORE

current buzz around it. “When something becomes a trend, it loses The Jetavan project is a great example of resource management.

its original intent,” he says of the interpretation of biophilia as Not only is using local materials wisely and frugally a hallmark of

forest-print wallpaper and artificial lights that mimic the variation sustainable design, it also has an obvious positive financial effect.

of the sun. “Biophilia is about using natural light, wind and water “Frugality is an important way for us to look at our lives and how

to connect with nature, and not artificial means of mimicking na- we consume,” stresses Padora. We can incorporate sustainability

ture, whether it is artificially controlled light or temperature.” and resource management into our everyday lives by making

When Lijo.Reny first started designing, Jos began by simply in- small changes—you can harvest rainwater in your apartment

corporating skylights and windows to allow light in. Over time, block and use it for flushing, or make your building compound

the firm incorporated other aspects of biophilia. A case in point is more pervious to allow more water to seep through so that certain

a home he built in Kerala for a young family with two children. species of plants can survive with less watering. These are simple

Called The Home That Rains Light, the biophilic home includes ways to bring biophilia into everyday living.

several landscaped pockets, flood-lit by a series of skylights. Large Jos adds that another way to incorporate biophilia is to avoid

frames were fitted on the facade of the house, extending the gar- spending all your time in a temperature- and light-controlled

den through flowering creepers and attracting all manner of but- space. “Resist removing balconies and converting them into stor-

terflies, insects and birds that provide an endless source of fascina- age rooms or other rooms. Keep them, even make them bigger if

tion for the home’s youngest inhabitants. These continue as a you can. Fill them with plants. Allow the natural breeze to come in.

shaded canopy onto the terrace, which serves as an outdoor rec- Control the natural light in the room through sheers and heavier

reation area for the children and also helps lower the temperature drapes. If you’re worried about bugs, get a bug screen, but open up

inside the house. “We bring gardens inside so your windows.” Though not a pet person

people can connect with grass and plants. “BIOPHILIA IS ABOUT himself, he says having a pet around is
This often brings with it bugs and bees, but USING NATURAL LIGHT, also a great way to extend biophilia as it
connecting with other species in nature is also WIND AND WATER TO helps you connect with another species.
an important aspect of biophilia,” adds Jos.
Jos is also a big fan of moving water

Sameep Padora, of Mumbai-based SP+A, CONNECT WITH NATURE” bodies, although the high humidity in
has a similar story to tell. In 2016, SP+A built Kerala prevents him from using them ex-
the ambitious Jetavan Spiritual Centre, a skill —L I J O JO S , L I JO. R E N Y tensively in his projects. He credits sci-
development centre in rural Maharashtra, ARCHITECTS ence with explaining the calming effect

without harming a single tree on the site. Re- that moving water bodies have on our

specting the native plant life, it used local building traditions and minds. Moving water creates negative ions in the air, and studies

materials like stone dust that was abundantly available as waste have shown that these help promote positivity and relieve depres-

from a nearby factory. It also used mud rolls to insulate the veranda sion. It’s perhaps what motivated Mindspace Architects to built a

which, over time, saw birds build nests in them. Padora’s client was corporate campus around a lake. The six-and-a-half acre Titan In-

delighted to see a space that benefited humans and other species. tegrity Campus in Bengaluru also features green walls and terraces.

It’s this respect and connection that resonates with Padora. Architect Sunil Kulkarni believes that humans have a primor-

“There needs to be harmony with nature,” says the award-winning dial urge to be close to the water. “Perhaps it’s in our muscle mem-

architect whose work is often built around the ecological frame- ory or survival instinct.” Pune-based Kulkarni’s design philosophy

work of a site. “The inside and the outside of a space doesn’t need is heavily inspired by the legendary Japanese architect Tadao

to be as hard as in a cold environment,” he explains, adding that Ando, who has long used nature, specifically water and light, as a

living in a country like India, which has a tropical climate, means leitmotif through his prolific body of work—as evident in struc-

that we can access our outdoors more seamlessly. tures like the Church of Water and Church of Light. “Light can

Padora stresses on how homes were built historically, with a take you to a meditative space. We have been doing this in India

special recognition of light, air and ventilation—all elements cru- for generations,” he says, adding that his approach to biophilia is

cial to our well-being. “Look at how chawls were built in urban to express nature in design, both physically and visually.

India—to connect with the world, and to create a community. Kulkarni’s oeuvre at CoreArchitecture uses age-old scientific

Sadly, our urban homes are now becoming spaces for us to discon- techniques, like the Venturi effect, for better ventilation and light.

nect rather than connect.” He’s also incorporated solar chimneys in a project to remove heat,

The greater the disconnect, he says, the greater the disuse and and created a natural hillock to eliminate the need for an elevator.

more far-reaching the implications, such as climate change. This In his designs, the traditional finds a contemporary retelling.

means communities struggle with basic needs, like access to For Padora, biophilia is ultimately a push to rethink how we

drinking water. “Biophilia is not just about the rooms we inhabit, live. “Once you realise that your home is a part of an apartment

but addressing this disconnect from the world, from our environ- block, which is part of a street, which is part of a neighbourhood,

ment. There is a need for us not only to be sensitive to the environ- which is part of a city, we can start thinking of creating change of

ment, but also to be sensitive to how we use our resources.” scale. And no change is too small.” n

www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 59

EXPERT

Wild things purifier and desert-resistant, so you don’t need to water her LAURA MURRAY
often—I have about 25 of those gurls! The pothos is a fast grower
The pandemic has reignited a global affection and really easy to propagate, so if you want to green up your space
for gardening. Here’s a fun-loving guide by with plants you already have, just snip, snip, snip, put them in
Christopher Griffin aka Plant Kween to a water, wait three weeks, and bam! You have a new plant. And the
thriving windowsill. By Hilary Cadigan ZZ plant (also called Zanzibar Gem) is one of my favourites be-
cause of its glossy leaves and ability to survive in all lighting condi-
S ince the beginning of quarantine, Christopher Griffin, tions—she can really bounce back from those plant parent mis-
aka @plantkween, has acted as my digital wellness tonic. takes we all make in the beginning.
Their glowing self-portraits (always mid-laugh, decked
out in something fabulous, and surrounded by an indoor Where should we buy plants?
jungle of 185-plus houseplants) and videos (along with a salutatory I prefer independent plant nurseries, but I won’t denounce any-
“Daaahlings!”) are the moments of verdant bliss my gloom-and- body. Just make sure you thoroughly check those plants for pests
doom-filled Instagram feed needs. But facing down a long lock- before you buy. Larger shipment sizes mean they likely spent a lot
down, I realised what I needed more was an IRL space as green as of time touching each other in transit, which can spread creatures,
Griffin’s. So, desperate for advice, I caught up with the Kween so dig around in the soil a bit, looking for bugs or even mice. Make
themself for answers to my most burning botanical questions. sure you’re not bringing anything home beside the plant.

What are the easiest-to-keep-alive houseplants for newbies This plant by my bed is growing some scary yellow mushrooms
and known plant murderers like myself? that look straight out of Alice in Wonderland. What do I do?!
The snake plant is the queen of all plants. She is a wonderful air Okay, first off, don’t eat them, honey! They might be poisonous, so
just pick them and throw them out, especially if you have pets.
Mushrooms are usually a sign of overwatering—when soil is too
moist it allows fungus to grow. So reduce the watering and then,

60 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

Bounty hunter

Inspired by botanicals and the natural world,
these dramatic pieces can bring a floral refresh
to your homes, says Nupur Sarvaiya

CASA PARADOX
Raseel Gujral Ansal’s
‘Into The Wild’ line
embodies the spirit
of the Amazon with
pieces inspired by
its rich biodiversity
and vibrant flowers

HERMÈS
Available in a set of two, the
verdant ‘Passifolia’ porcelain

dessert plate by Nathalie
Rolland-Huckel brings a profusion

of plant life to your table

after you make your next cup of tea, sprinkle those leftover tea MANGROVE COLLECTIVE
leaves over the topsoil as a fungus deterrent. Count on the ‘Floral Symphony’
closet with painterly shutters
Okay, let’s talk about watering. I’m pretty sure I’ve drowned if you are looking for a fresh
every plant I’ve ever owned. How much water is just right? perspective on your boudoir
My general rule is once a week, but in winter lots of plants go
dormant—conserving energy and not sucking up as much GUCCI
liquid—so I push it to once every two weeks. Cacti and succulents? Bringing Alessandro
Every three weeks to a month. Michele’s whimsical

I bought a really cute pot, but there’s no drainage hole on the touch to a humble
bottom. Do I have to get rid of it? chair is this ‘Moire’
No! You have two options: one is to drill a hole in the bottom of
the pot if you’re handy with a drill. (I am not, so I don’t do that.) seater in a rich
The other is to put lava rocks at the bottom of the pot so the roots dragonfish jacquard
will sit above any excess water. Just be extra careful about overwa-
tering from then on! SHIVAN & NARRESH
India’s game-changing
If you name your plants and talk to them, do they live longer? resortwear designer duo make
My plants are all my Green Gurls, but I do like to call them by their their debut into homes with a
scienti c names. They remind me of drag queen names. I mean, bold selection of resort rugs,
Ms. Ficus Elastica? Oh, my goodness. I don’t talk to my plants un- perfect for a garden party ■
less I’m in a mood, like, “You better grow, girl.” But if I knock into
them, I always say sorry. ■ www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 61

TASTE

The new order safe,” says Shonan Purie Trehan of Labwerk, who worked with
New York-based Jorge Zapata of JAZ Architect to design Araku
With restaurants reopening after a long hiatus, Cafe in Bengaluru, which opened in April this year. “The funda-
will the large, bustling eatery become a relic of mental tools of creating a collective experience in social spaces
the past? Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi reports on the have been challenged by the pandemic. Going to a restaurant was
new blueprint for post-pandemic dining also about your interaction with the hosts, waitstaff and bartend-
ers. Now with acrylic screens and masks muffling communication,
A t the post-pandemic restaurant, bar or cafe, the one has to layer the exchange in other ways,” she adds.
bouncer is a no-contact thermometer, the reception
is a walled-off plexiglass fort, and the air conditioner Araku was designed pre-pandemic and then went into detailing
is an anxiety-inducing appliance. Since March 2020, and construction just as the first wave set in. “When the pandemic
we’ve barely eaten out, and when we have, we’ve dined out like hit, we looked at the premises and asked ourselves how we could
never before. Restaurants are intrinsically social experiences, take it further,” says Zapata. “We not only readjusted the layout
offering a great deal more than just food and drink. Over the past and seating arrangements but also looked at touchpoints that may
20 months, these social interactions have birthed a new vocabu- be encountered by a patron in their journey through the space.”
lary—distancing, sanitisation, QR codes and pandemic pods. Zapata notes that while fomites were concerning then, protecting
people from aerosol transmission has since become vital. “We can
All of it was unforeseeable, but none of this is going away in a learn from some of the eateries that popped up on the streets of
hurry. The pandemic has changed the design experience of eating cities during the pandemic. We have to bring that knowledge back
out, and so, architects are rethinking the post-pandemic restau- to ‘formal’ spaces and use it moving forward,” says the Colombian-
rant blueprint. The idea is to help diners relax and feel safe enough American architect.
to take off their masks in an enclosed area where everyone else is
also maskless and loud—laughing, eating, drinking. “While we all CLEAN SLATE
wish that we could just go right back to social spaces as they used
to be, we know we will have to rethink the design of the space to be In Mumbai, Ashiesh Shah of Ashiesh Shah Architecture + Design
has worked through the pandemic on two landmark Mumbai res-
taurants: Joshi House, which replaced Pali Village Cafe in Bandra,
and 108 Bungalow, which will occupy the Colaba space that was
once Indigo. “Ventilation has become so important, my longest

62 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

Left: Bastian’s Worli outlet
in Mumbai has see-through
kitchen arches intended to
give guests a peek into the
kitchen operations. Below:
In Bengaluru, Araku Café’s
seating arrangements were
altered to offer a safer
dining experience.
Opposite page: The airy
interiors of Joshi House in
Bandra, Mumbai, designed
by award-winning architect
and interior designer
Ashiesh Shah

meetings are with my HVAC consultants these days,” he says. “108 TURNING TABLES
has five outdoor spaces that are open to the sky.” At Joshi House,
made to look like a tastemaker’s haveli in Jaipur, the glass-walled The pandemic has also made certain restaurant formats more
porch has been made al fresco, the layout has been opened up, appealing than others. Fine dining, with its long-drawn, expen-
and he’s worked with colour to convey immaculate hygiene. sive, multicourse meals in air-conditioned rooms filled with stran-
“White is the new colour for the post-covid world,” says Shah. gers, isn’t going to feel as appealing given the information we have
“When it is airy, white and light-filled, it makes me feel like things about the aerosol transmission of COVID-19. “Fine dining is going
are sanitised.” to take a back seat. Who is going to sit for four hours while they are
anxious?” asks Hanisha Singh, chef-owner at Plats in Delhi.
The theatre and choreography that notches up the restaurant “[New places] are going to be about more fun-casual dining. Res-
design experience are now being deployed to make diners feel taurant [aesthetics] have taken a back seat, it’s all about function-
safe. Cutlery is placed in visible UV sanitation boxes before it ality,” says Singh, who, along with her partner and chef-owner
comes to the table, seating is made flexible to adapt with changing Jamsheed Bhote recently launched an informal brand called Over
safety norms, dining rooms are made to feel voluminous, vibrant Easy in Delhi’s DLF Mall, offering soft serves, toasts, tartines and
and animated, while tables around are ensured to be unoccupied jaffles. The doorless, open-facade outlet has 10 seats in the three-
to make them feel secluded and secure. storey open amphitheatre of the food court, but the counter is de-
signed for no-contact ordering and grab-and-go eating. And be-
PRIVATE QUARTERS cause the space is large, customers can stay distanced.

At Mumbai’s Bastian in Worli, which opened last December, this As designers find long-term solutions for safety in restaurant
was achieved in one way via a sectional layout that unveils smaller design tweaks, some temporary solutions have also veered on the
private spaces. “See-through kitchen arches are placed at eye-level bizarre. Singh and Bhote went to a popular Chinese restaurant
so the guests can view every aspect of kitchen operations, and be between the first two waves and found that the management had
assured of hygiene and safety every step of the way,” says designer invented a novel way to block alternate tables in order to space
Minal Chopra of I Need Space. “Perhaps the most important in- people out. “A life-sized teddy bear was sitting on each chair that
clusion during this time was the 28ft tower bar, which could only wasn’t supposed to be occupied,” he says. “On round tables of
be accessed by a single bar operative using an elevator.” This al- eight, there were eight teddy bears in different colours.” n
lowed for social distancing as well as made it easy to replace a
crowded bar—an inconceivable notion now—with table service.

For restaurants to be truly safe, protocols must originate where
the food does, at the busy back of the house, and in the parts of the
eatery that may not be immediately visible. At BrewDog Midtown
in Mumbai, Sona Mantri, founder of Sprinteriors, dedicated areas
for inward goods sanitisation, demarcated space for staff hygiene
checks, modified ventilation for faster air circulation, and installed
adapters on taps for contactless hand washing. These, in addition
to using UV air purifiers, installing greenery in corridors, and
making the indoor and outdoor spaces seamless. “Trust has
become an important factor for customers,” she says, “Only the
‘vibe’ of a place will no longer cut it when it comes to the dining.”

www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 63

SECOND HOMES

Home away
from home

With hordes of city folk looking
for an escape, second homes
got a new lease as primary
shelters. Studio Verandah’s
Anjali Patel Mehta recounts

how Alibaug became a healing
space for her and her family in

the midst of the pandemic

T he drive to our family home in the sleepy seaside room cottage with an attic, built in the early 1980s by the well-
village of Awas in Alibaug on March 20, 2020, seemed known architect Ratan Batliboi and bought by my husband’s fam-
longer than the usual hop, skip and jump that it usu- ily almost 17 years ago. We fondly call it the ‘Beach House in Ali’.
ally is from our Mumbai home. My husband Chippy It has served as a getaway from the hustle of city life, first for my
and I, along with our kids, nine-year-old Sumer and seven-year- in-laws and now for all of us. It’s where we escape for some much-
old Alekha, were heading across for what we thought were a few needed family time. We spend our days there running on the
days. All we carried were a few not-so-fashionable clothes, school beach, watching the fishermen go by, admiring the casuarina for-
books, three novels, essential cooking ingredients and a set of est that frames the coastline, playing around the massive ‘junglee’
what proved to be the most valuable possessions—dumb-bells and kevda plants, hanging out with the stray dogs on the beach, and
a yoga mat. Five days later, the all-India lockdown was announced. enjoying the no-network life.

THE GETAWAY Our home itself has become a memory-keeper. Family antiques
from my father-in-law’s ancestral house in Surat, a giant
Our family home in Alibaug is a cosy, whitewashed three-bed- patchwork piece of upcycled textile art that I designed in
Ranthambore and stitched together with the women of the Mogya
tribe, and posters from Paris and drawings from Vietnam bring
back old family memories. Nestled behind our rustic second home
is a pool, hidden behind a sway of palms and bluebells
planted years ago by my mother-in-law to shield bikini-clad
weekend visitors from prying eyes.

A SIMPLER LIFE

Over what was one of the harshest lockdowns in the world, we
lived a blessed and peaceful life, tucked away safely on the shores
of Awas. Here, for the first time, our barely-used rustic kitchen

64 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

Clockwise, from left: Anjali
Patel Mehta’s patchwork
quilt takes centre stage in
the wicker-furnished living
room; upcycled cotton
voile curtains, a handmade
rug from Ranthambore
and a pop of colour via
cushions from Good Earth
add a breezy, tropical vibe
to the bedroom; a foraged
flower arrangement from
the garden is framed by a
grid of sketches from Hoi
An, Vietnam, in the dining
room; post-impressionists
Paul Gauguin and Henri
de Toulouse-Lautrec
posters are paired with a
vintage rattan set in the
sitting room
Opposite page: Patel
Mehta in her palm-lined
backyard; the family
beach house in Alibaug
designed by architect
Ratan Batliboi

witnessed long banana bread-making sessions. We learned to reconnected with nature and tracked shooting stars, and finally
cook more consciously with vegetables from our garden and be- realised the joy of a home away from our city home. It
gan observing and adapting to the seasonal cycles as the weeks inspired me in more ways than I realised, and my spring/summer
went by. We struggled with patchy Wi-Fi for the first three months 2022 collection for Verandah (a conscious resort brand) is called
but discovered a whole other analogue world around us—every ‘Awas’, an homage to the patch of beach that became our home for
morning and evening was spent walking through the village or on the last few months. The prints for the season are all hand-drawn
the beach, playing in nature with our bubble of friends and their and pay tribute to the flowers my mother-in-law planted in our
kids who live nearby. For me, it was a time when I began designing back garden, the casuarina tree in our backyard that fell during
more by hand—the surroundings brought on a whole new per- Cyclone Nisarga, the shells my kids collected over the year, and to
spective. By the time Zoom school began, we were finally Internet- our beach house which has had the most profound impact on me
optimised, but our days were already different, with less screen and my family. This is my most personal collection yet and it was
time and more family time. Our second home became not just our made in the safe arms of our beach house. We’re back in Mumbai,
lockdown home, but a safe and caring sanctuary. but Alibaug remains our special hideaway. We now give out our
beach house on short stays as a way to share our place of healing
It gave us a stress-free space where we had the freedom to just and joy with those who care. n
live and be, where we trekked and talked and thought, where we

www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 65

SECOND HOMES

From Goa with love

For Delhi-based lighting designers Prateek
Jain and Gautam Seth, a second house in the
sunny state o ered a safe space to reconnect,
rejuvenate and refresh. By Arman Khan

A s far back as lighting designers Prateek Jain and Gau- to make their Portuguese-style villa by Isprava in Assagao their
tam Seth, the co-founders of Klove Studio, can re- own. Jain shares his preference for bolder shades that come with
member, Goa has been a dream—a shared fantasy, the architectural school that dominates the Coromandel coast. “I
where they would go and live by the sun and sand see the beauty of Portuguese architecture,” he clari es. “The exte-
someday. Their reasoning was simple—everything seemed per- rior aspect of a Portuguese home is very appealing to me, but not
fect, the beaches had their own story and there was always good the interiors. We had to nd a way to make it our own—marry the
food cooking in some alley or the other. “It was a milestone. We Southern Indian aspects that I love with the Portuguese
thought if we owned a house in Goa, we’ve made it in life,” says sensibilities of the area.”
Jain. And nally, in 2018, it happened. The year of the pandemic
ensured that the duo split their time between two bubbles, their But how did they bring their idiosyncrasies to this space? Jain
home and studio in Delhi and their second home, in Goa. knew right at the onset that their home in Goa had to re ect their
journey—the product of all their travels, memories, and collected
“We all see Goa as a place where we can let go of ourselves,” he souvenirs. The idea was to “evoke a deep sense of nostalgia” when
continues. “I’ve done all of that and some more. Some days I might one entered the house. The walls of the house are dotted with art-
be feeling particularly hedonistic and some days I might not. But works that hold deep meaning for them—take, for instance, the
Goa is also the mecca of healers, practitioners of alternative small statues of Peruvian angels. “They are very special to me,”
medicine and yogic gurus. And from the safe vantage point of my says Jain. “They was rst gifted to me by a very special friend, but
home, I want the best of both worlds,” adds Jain, who, with Seth, I gradually started to buy them myself from the local ea markets
has created a loving space to let go even as they rest and recuperate of Delhi. I now surround myself with them—my o ce, my Delhi
from their hectic city lives. home, and even the Goa home—you will see them everywhere.”
These angel gurines, the way he sees them, have an “almost
MEMORY MAPS

These designers were very clear on their aesthetic and have strived

66 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

TIME TRAVEL
Prateek Jain
and Gautam
Seth’s Isprava
villa in Assagao
is infused with
souvenirs, art
and personal
mementos

maternal vibe” for the couple, who believe that a home needs to be Seth prefers to be more rooted, stable even. These deep
a nurturing space. Their sunlit home, with its plush white interi- contrasts manifest when they are working together, and this is
ors, is perfectly balanced with natural accents of wood, cane and where the Goa home acts as a sort of retreat as well. “There is nat-
palm, making it a serene yet cosy tropical haven. urally a lot of paraphernalia attached to our daily lives when we
are working,” explains Jain. “In Delhi, it’s mostly work stuff. We
OPPOSITES ATTRACT both agree that whenever we are outside of our regular
environment, we connect much better. In many ways, our Goa
Seth and Jain are not just business partners but life partners too. home allows our relationship to breathe more.”
Their Goa home serves as a safe space for the two to kick back and
bond, away from the hustle of the city and their studio. Jain, by his The Goa home, incidentally, takes on a “sacred” hue when Jain
own admission, oscillates between the “extreme ends of life” while and Seth are together. “Gautam is more of an introverted person,”
says Jain. “He prefers being on his own, as opposed to me, who
views the home as an inviting space. All our friends respect both
these approaches and it certainly helps that we have a lot of com-
mon friends.” Their second home offers them the space for both,
as inviting as it is a serene sanctum.

But for all the dichotomies, there is one common thread that has
made this coastal retreat a safe and comforting home for them.
Without a beat, Jain says: “Laughter. Lots of it.” He explains,
“There are random videos of us, with our friends, with each other,
laughing in stitches and we don’t even remember why we were that
hysterical. I guess, eventually, this house just brings out the silly,
unfiltered child inside us and I think that’s beautiful.” n

www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 67

SECOND HOMES

Sanctum of solace the house, barely months into her marriage. “I could literally see
all my troubles disappear the moment I stepped into the house. I
Entrepreneur Karishma Manga Bedi shares knew I was in an exceptionally tranquil place,” she recollects. And
the joy of solitude she experiences by the this ancestral paradise has now been infused with a contemporary
Ganga at her mountain home nestled in the language of its own, making it an ideal retreat. The key, she
mystical hills of Rishikesh. By Arman Khan explains, was finding meaning in the little rituals that hold a
family together, the ones that reinforce love ever so gently.
T he former Raja of Tehri-Garhwal couldn’t have
possibly predicted the pandemic, but he knew well of SENSE OF BELONGING
the therapeutic powers of his land. For one family, it
became a space for hope and healing. “This land is One of these rituals was a Christmas tree. “It has now become
quite exceptional on its own,” says entrepreneur Karishma Manga permanent. I’m not Christian, but the Christmas tree has a special
Bedi. “It was the place where spiritual guru Anandamayi Ma had narrative around it—we like circling around it, unwrapping our
spent quite a bit of time and she’d given the property the name gift boxes, and there are always surprises waiting for everyone
Anand Kashi, which roughly translates to: light of inner bliss.” under the tree. I even make a full turkey roast for dinner, despite
The maternal grandfather of Manga Bedi’s husband had subse- being a vegetarian,” she says. Although these rituals were initially
quently purchased the land from the Raja and her mother-in-law planned to keep her children, 10-year-old Shabad and seven-year-
then built the house that would carry the weight of its enchanting old Angad, in good spirits, they have now become an organic, even
history on its sturdy beams. necessary, part of their lives. Opening up the kitchen as a
communal space and rolling pizza bases with her children only
The 37-year-old fondly remembers the first time she’d visited added to a collective sense of ease and belonging.

To provide everyone with their own space while still feeling con-
nected to each other is the ultimate gift provided by a second

68 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

“I have the luxury
of sitting on a
boulder by the
Ganges, where I
can dip my feet
in the water and
just be”

—K AR I SHM A M A NG A
BEDI

Clockwise, from above: A MINDFUL RETREAT
The conservatory is
Spread over five rooms, the space has ample nooks for the family
studded with furniture of four to find themselves. Manga Bedi acknowledges that there is
from Gulmohar Lane a marked improvement in her family dynamics that seeps in when
and art from the they are in Rishikesh. Even the first night she’d spent in her
second home—she looks back on it as the night where she was
Bengal School; custom brimming with gratitude for everything life had given her so far.
furniture by designer “Our lives in Delhi are nothing short of riding a tiger,” she says.
“You cannot stop even when you want to—whether it is between
Vikram Singh is paired things you do for love, for work, or sometimes things you simply
with artwork by Dilip have to do. But Rishikesh is where you can just slow down.”
Chobisa in the living
You might recognise the extension of their home as the
room; the riverside patio stunning hotel and former Neemrana-run property, The Glass
is a family favourite for House by the Ganges. The Bedis have now beautifully restored the
al-fresco dining; Manga extended property and given it back its original name, Anand
Bedi enjoying a leisurely Kashi, as named by Anandmayi Ma. The 22-room boutique hotel
will reopen in an all-new avatar early next year. Manga Bedi says
walk down the river it was a natural decision to share the intense natural energy and
bank. Opposite page: serene vibrations of the property with other families who were
Manga Bedi lounges perhaps seeking the same. She explains, “The idea of being rooted
at her Rishikesh home; is essential. I believe, for an individual to truly flourish, one re-
a high-backed chair quires both wings and roots. Rishikesh gives a bit of both. I re-
by Vikram Singh with member taking a picture here for my Instagram account with the
cushions from Sarita caption, “I’ve planted my feet out here and I’m not moving!” n
Handa make up a cosy

reading nook in the
master bedroom

home that is set in the vastness of nature. With Manga Bedi’s
family, it is all the more true. “Sometimes when I just don’t feel like
it, and because I enjoy solitude, I know I have the luxury of step-
ping out and sitting on a boulder by the Ganges, where I can dip
my feet in the water and just be,” she says. The idea that a second
home need not be an island in itself, but rather a constellation of
little islands for everyone, can be quite liberating. And it certainly
is for this family. “My husband can be in his corner doing his work,
I could be in my corner reading a book, and the children could be
involved in something else altogether,” she explains, “You don’t
have to be physically together all the time, and I think that’s okay.”

The proud mum is only too happy that both her children love
reading books as much as she does. And she goes out of her way to
ensure this rare, cherished trait is not lost in the cyber maze of
electronic devices—her second home naturally lends itself to her
endeavour. “We have a reading time set out where all three of us
will snuggle up in the bed together and just read. It’s a maze of legs
and books,” she says.

www.vogue.in CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 69

EXPLORE

Safe haven

Mountains or beach?
With our selection of
luxury rentals from across
India, nestled between
the snow-capped peaks
of Kasauli to the warm
sandy beaches of Goa, you
don’t have to pick just one.
By Arman Khan

976 Panangad, Ernakulam

This quaint property is just half an hour away from Fort Kochi in Kochi. Its
four bedrooms allow an unhindered, almost paradisiacal view of Kerala’s
famed backwaters, courtesy the wide floor-to-ceiling glass wall in each
of the rooms. Two of the four rooms even feature attached plunge pools,
in addition to a common infinity pool that o ers a panoramic view of the
waterfront lined with coconut trees. 976panangad.com

Glass House 91, Alibaug The First House, Goa

This is an estate with a design scheme firmly This plush Portuguese colonial home was originally built in 1896 by the then
orientated towards a high level of privacy and Portuguese Consul to the British colony of Aden (now a part of Yemen), Luis
inside-out living. A series of monolithic glass Jose de S. Lourençe Mendonca. The property in Saligao is currently managed by
edifices essentially create the basic design Suchna and Yogi Shah of The Villa Escape and is also one of Goa’s few 10-bed
narrative, where multiple installations reflect homes, meticulously renovated by architect Ayaz Basrai. Thefirsthousegoa.com
the experience of a contemporary mansion
surrounded by natural beauty. With three
en-suite bedrooms and a master suite with a
private deck, book the space for a perfectly
luxurious family escape. Lohono.com

70 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

WHERE LUXURY AND
LONGEVITY FIND A HOME

Superior design, contemporary aesthetics and bespoke elements blend seamlessly
in sophisticated villas designed by Palmore Luxury Developers. If Alibaug is your
dream destination, let Palmore Luxury Developers be your guide

Having built their first villa in Alibaug STAGES OF THEIR CUSTOM For more information,
in 2001, the following decades have BUILD APPROACH: visit palmore.in,
cemented Palmore Luxury Developers call 8291739898 or
as a trusted developer in the region. • An exploratory call and visit for follow @palmorevillas
Anticipating a demand for second homes on Instagram
to service Mumbai’s discerning clientele, a walkthrough of past homes, an
father-son duo Navzer and Karl Irani have assurance that you are in the most
honed their vision by combining what qualified hands.
they love and do best. A veteran architect
and household name that has become • A breakup of commercials with
synonymous with the tropical landscape, it
is Navzer’s expertise that gives Palmore its payments benchmarked to a 14-16
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local nuances and personal involvement is
complemented by Karl’s eye for design and • Land acquisition wherein Palmore
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As a one-stop solution, Palmore’s acre), 30 ghunthas, 40 ghunthas
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streamlined through one point of
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• The build and handover of your

home whose complete management
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so you may enjoy it with sweet,
carefree abandon.

EXPLORE

Coco Shambhala, Sindhudurg

Blending seamlessly with the lush greenery and sea encircling it, this
property allows you to be one with the forgotten sounds of nature. Add an
infinity pool and sea-facing rooms, and you have yourself a blissful second
home to isolate at. Using fresh, organic produce with a deep reverence to
local culture is their fine culinary experience. Cocoshambhala.com

Villa Habu, Udaipur Mary Budden Estate, Binsar
Located on a private island This almost historic villa traces its story
on Jaisamand Lake, this back to 1899, when it was bought by an
villa does not give in to the Englishwoman named Mary Budden. It
expectations of generic was then uninhabited for almost a century
Rajasthani architecture. The until photographer Serena Chopra flipped
outdoor dining area o ers
refreshing views of the lake, it into a restful mountain home. Spread
while a bath carved out of a over five acres of land, the wooded estate
single natural stone is perfect
has a cottage that can sleep six across
for that summer read with three rooms and an additional three double
a fresh, tropical breakfast to
rooms in the lodge to accommodate your
add to the magic. extended family. Marybuddenestate.com
Villa-habu.business.site

The Mansion, Kasauli

A stunning colonial property spread across five acres—the otherworldly
charm is strong in this vacation home. Cocooned by lush Himalayan forests
and panoramic sunsets, this sprawling abode o ers easy access to various
hiking points and a peaceful retreat to reconvene with nature. Vistarooms.com

La Vie En Rose, Puducherry

Lined with bougainvillea, and owned and run
by a French family, this stunning villa is located
in the heart of Puducherry’s French Quarter.
An ornamental spiral staircase designed in the
Chettinad style leads to three bedrooms, all which
overlook the charming Rue de L’evêché. Airbnb.co.in

72 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

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SAHIL BEHAL. DRESS, MATCHING STOLE; BOTH OSCAR DE LA RENTA EYEVIEW

The life eclectic
• Into the world of Rhea Kapoor
• A guided tour of Sravanya Rao Pittie’s art house

• Inside Sruthi C Reddy’s light- and foliage-filled
family getaway

• Srimoyi Bhattacharya’s tropical haven in Goa

Rhea Kapoor in the
dining area atop
a table from Blue
Loft. The ceiling
pendant lights
were custom made
Dress, Khaite

FVAAML UIELYS

In tony Bandra, amidst vintage mainstays and contemporary collectibles, designer Ravi
Vazirani has fashioned a colourful tableau of design treasures and family heirlooms for

the first home of newlywed producer and stylist Rhea Kapoor, finds Meghna Pant

Photographed by SAHIL BEHAL Styled by PRIYANKA KAPADIA Art direction by SNIGDHA KULKARNI

T welve years ago, when Karan Boolani and Rhea director-producer husband remains the centre of this self-con-
Kapoor went on their first date, it turned out to be a fessed foodie’s life. In lockdown, #rheamade became a repository
hunt for the most scrumptious rolls in Bandra. It’s of her kitchen experiments—from mac and cheese to enchiladas,
hard to know if their food pursuits were successful, but all on view for her 1.6 million followers on Instagram. “Dad wants
Boolani managed to clinch the date by leaving flowers in Kapoor’s me to be like Jerry Bruckheimer, the world’s best producer, but we
car. Kapoor says she knew then that he was the one. are a multifaceted generation,” adds the stylish producer-turned-
entrepreneur. “We can be everything!”
When we meet on a rain-soaked afternoon, it is at the charming
new address in Bandra that the recently married couple now call MAKE YOUR OWN BLISS
home. Seated on a swivel chair (a favourite of her actor father),
Kapoor, dressed in grey trackpants embellished with her last Leaving the comforts and cosiness of a childhood home cannot be
name in Devanagari, tells me, “My father asked me for only one easy, more so if your family home is a landmark bungalow. At first,
thing when I left the Juhu bungalow: ‘Don’t spend all your time in Kapoor wasn’t sure that Boolani’s split-level apartment could sud-
the kitchen!’” But entertaining friends and cooking for her denly become everything for her. “I want my home to be a >

77

On Karan: Shirt, Savio
Jon. Trousers, All
Saints. On Rhea: Shirt,
Huemn. Trousers,
Y Project. Hoops,
Completed Works

“I’M NOT ULTRA-FEMININE. I DON’T
LIKE CHINTZ AND FLORALS. SO WE
KEPT THE OMBRÉS SOFT BUT GRAPHIC”

—R HEA K AP OOR
78

Clockwise from right: An Art
Deco chair that Kapoor acquired

from an auction at Saffron Art.
The Magari concrete table is
from Gulmohar Lane and the
vases by Lailums; Kapoor’s
bedroom features artwork by
Manisha Parekh and bedding

by Anavila. The pendant vase is
from Agustina Bottoni and the
rug is from Obeetee. Opposite
page: The couple in their study
with their Shih Tzu, Russell, on a
coffee table by Phantom Hands;
the cast metal side table is by

Ravi Vazirani Design Studio;
the day bed in the living room

is decked with cushions and
throws by designer Anavila

Clockwise, from left: In the living
room, an artwork by Rathin
Burman, acquired from Kolkata’s
Experimenter gallery, takes pride
of place; the limited edition ‘Raku’
cocktail table and the cast metal
cocktail table in the background
are both from Ravi Vazirani
Design Studio while the coffee
table is from Gulmohar Lane. The
bar trolley was sourced locally by
Kapoor. In the study, Boolani on
an Art Deco chair bought from
an auction at Saffron Art.
Opposite page: Kapoor with her
Shih Tzu, Russell

“WHEN AN APARTMENT T-shirt, Uniqlo.
IS WELL-LAID OUT, THE Trousers, Zara. Jacket,
TRICK IS TO STICK TO GOOD Engineered Garments
PROPORTIONS, MUTED COLOURS
AND ATTENTION TO DETAILS”

—RAVI VA Z IRA NI

80

Dress, Casey
Casey. Chain,
pendant; both
Viange Fine

Jewels

sanctuary, a place of fun, comfort and security. So while I loved Kapoor also had to work around the constraints of a rented
Karan’s place, I wasn’t sure how it’d work for me. The apartment, house. Vazirani could not break down walls or change details such
split over two floors, is in an old bungalow, now converted into a as the mouldings. “Living in a rented space does not mean that it
building. It’s not conventional. Could I make it practical and func- has to be unappealing,” she says, playing with her dogs, Russell
tional? Could I make it my own?” and Lemon. “Put in the effort to build a home that makes you
happy, inspired and proud. Spruce it up, don’t be cheap!”
It’s evident that houses, like marriages, have a way of uniting
disparate sensibilities. Under this Bandra roof, nips and tucks en- Despite Kapoor’s love of the dramatic, Vazirani opted to design
sured that the beloved house was up to date to serve the newly a space that is simple, with light-painted walls, so the decor would
married couple. “The apartment has a lot of character, so I knew not compete with their collection of art. “I didn’t want an ostenta-
we could make it work,” says Kapoor. As the world sheltered in- tious house, so we have a mix of high and low, and kept everything
doors, Kapoor channelled her passion for fashion into interior de- under budget. The only thing I spend on is contemporary art,”
signing with the help of her friend, designer Ravi Vazirani, whom Kapoor adds, pointing out works by Manish Nai, Rana Begum,
she knew through baker Pooja Dhingra. “I’m not ultra-feminine. I Dashrath Patel and Rithika Merchant.
don’t like chintz and florals. So we kept the ombrés soft but graph-
ic. We chose a neutral palette to make the house younger and Besides these extravagant vignettes on the wall, Kapoor’s sense
fresher, wooded the marble floors and changed the mouldings of theatre pervades indoors through just another indulgence—the
from gold to white for that old-school softness,” she shares. 30 vases by Agustina Bottoni that she’s accumulated for the love of
fresh flowers. She explains as I look askance, “Every morning, my
The result is an 1,800sqft three-bedroom apartment designed nani would drive to Dadar market in her Maruti to buy flowers for
in the mid-century modern style. The refurbished wood floors, her home. So when someone gifted flowers to my parents for their
soothing beige and white hues, along with the wooden and cane wedding, my mother began to keep fresh flowers in the house
accents, give it a clean and uncluttered aesthetic. Strewn around every day. That’s how the tradition started.”
are well-curated mix-and-match curio clusters, like the wooden
candlesticks and terracotta vase on a repurposed antique console Kapoor’s portmanteau of memories, aside from the family pho-
that belongs to Kapoor’s mother Sunita. Colours are layered tos in the den, find right of place in a Sudhir Patwardhan painting,
through art, textiles and flowers. Candles are lit everywhere. And a family heirloom that belongs to Sunita. “It’s one of two things I
the guest bedroom has been turned into Kapoor’s dressing room. took from my childhood home,” confesses the film producer, who
The effect is timeless but contemporary. recently transitioned to being a businesswoman with her ice cream
brand, Papacream. Up next are new film releases in which she
BETTER TOGETHER plans to take female actors forward in terms of equal pay scale and
opportunities. “Women make themselves feel equal and valuable
Kapoor’s taste is impeccable, but she felt the need for another according to the man they’re standing next to. And that’s sad,” says
craftsman. That’s where Vazirani came in. His aesthetic is pared Kapoor, “No one can deny you your place.”
down, while Kapoor veers on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Instead of wrangling over this, they decided to collaborate. Kapoor ROOM OF ONE’S OWN
kept themes and trends in mind while he focused on texture and
scale. “When an apartment is well-laid out, the trick is to stick to In the true essence of modern relationships, Boolani shares her
good proportions, muted colours and attention to details,” he says. views. “He trusted me implicitly with doing up his house,” says
Kapoor “The only thing he wanted was a wood and marble bar
The merging of their two aesthetics is everywhere, including the and a library outside the den, as he is a voracious reader.” The den,
foyer, which features some of their most treasured pieces such as a adjacent to the upstairs bedrooms, is a place Kapoor carved out
mirror from Mahendra Doshi Antiques, which reflects the mobile because she grew up with one at her parent’s place. She uses it for
brass vase installation that Kapoor unearthed through a designer meetings and to hang with friends. For the foreseeable needs,
in Italy. By trusting each other, the client and designer created a she’s also taken the third floor, so her den can expand into a home
house that is homely and soulful. “The whole place came together office. “I work hard and I deserve this luxury,” she says earnestly.
because of Rhea’s willpower,” says Vazirani. “Not only can she get
things done quickly since she comes from a production back- Meanwhile, Kapoor’s favourite nook is a daybed with uphol-
ground, she also has great taste as she’s a stylist. We designed the stery—throws, cushions, bedding and bolsters—by designer
house keeping in mind that the two of them love entertaining but Anavila Misra, and tomes all around. “After the end of a long day,
also need privacy, so it’s a joy to see how the space is being used.” Karan and I grab a drink and unwind here. The music plays, the
candles are lit, and we can just be. It’s ceremonial for us.”
Designed as a comfortable yet voguish family home to share,
chill and dine in, the apartment was put together during the trying An epitome of insouciant comfort and unforced elegance, in
times of the pandemic. Every object in the house was sent to a this home objects of intriguing beauty are disposed with an effort-
warehouse, sanitised, left out for 36 hours and only then brought less touch to complement the disposition of its residents. “I want
home. Over-sanitising was just one challenge, but overall, the pace an open house full of good food, loud laughter, bad behaviour, and
was slow. They could paint only one room at a time, so a room all that wonderful stuff,” says Kapoor, as we wrap up our interview
would take six days to paint instead of two. Manufacturing and her sister Sonam Kapoor Ahuja enters, a vision in a red-and-
bespoke pieces became impossible with factories closed. Thanks white polka-dotted dress.
to social distancing, “the house was basically styled on WhatsApp,” “What do you like best about this place?” I ask Sonam.
Vazirani admits, laughing in retrospect. “That it’ll always have good people in it,” says Sonam.
She’s right. Good people, after all, make good homes. n

82

On Karan: Jacket, trousers; both
Universal Works. Air Jordan 1 Low
‘Travis Scott’ sneakers, Nike. On Rhea:
Gown, Lanvin. Shoes, Savage X Fenty

The couple seated at their eclectic
bar, designed by Zameer Basrai of

The Busride Studio

Hair and makeup (Rhea): Namrata Soni
Hair (Karan): Rohit Bhatker

Hair and makeup assistant: Komal Vora
Assistant stylist: Naheed Driver
Production: Divya Jagwani
Visuals editor: Jay Modi
Florals: Twelve Tomatoes
Food stylist: Sage & Saffron

Interior designer Sravanya Rao Pittie’s
Mumbai apartment resembles an
assiduously curated art gallery that places
delicate and eclectic crafts-focused pieces
at the centre of an otherwise practical
family home, finds Aditi Shah Bhimjyani

Portraits by NEVILLE SUKHIA
Interior photography by ASHISH SAHI
Interior styling by SAMIR WADEKAR

Y ou wouldn’t typically picture a white sofa and artist ravioli, all prepared by her in-house cook. Rao Pittie adds her touch STYLED BY PRIYANKA KAPADIA
Shilpa Gupta’s dulcifying canvases as elements of a to this lavish Italian spread by placing three stout Capri lemon
children’s room. And yet, there they are. The sofa is trees (custom-made by her artificial plant vendor) which transport
hand-painted by interior designer Sravanya Rao me to a prosecco lunch at Da Paolino in Capri.
Pittie’s two children (aged four and five) and then digitised on fab-
ric. Gupta’s works, titled Half A Sky, hang above their twin beds. “I don’t like to walk into stores and pick stuff up,” she shrugs
A rocking bull by Sangaru Design Studio occupies the floor while between morsels, pointing to the sculptural chandelier compris-
a fallen branch from Alibaug forms the stark foundation of a mez- ing a series of concrete blocks with gold metal trims that looms
zanine tree house that Rao Pittie’s children love because their magnificently over the dining table. It took her several attempts
nanny cannot navigate its tricky steps. “The play area is the central and iterations to nail it with the help of architect and lighting de-
artery of our home, where we convene as a family every day,” says signer Arjun Rathi, who executed the final design. “My husband
the Mumbai-based designer, walking through her sunlit balcony Aditya and I both enjoy looking at the pieces around our home.
with the family’s newly adopted cocker spaniel, Ziggy, at her feet. This is what I need, to be able to start a conversation,” she adds as
my eye travels to a credenza refurbished by Thierry Betancourt for
An open floor plan and large windows lend a mid-century mod- Splendour, adorned with tribal masks from Nagaland.
ern character to this Worli home. Every morning at six, the house
comes to life when they bring out the pet turtles, feed the fish, play In a pleasant post-lunch stupor, I put my feet up on the sofa. Rao
chess and get in a few rounds of skating. After breakfast, the fam- Pittie’s curated mix of Italian furniture from Fendi, Minotti, Ru-
ily of four goes about school, work, Kuchipudi lessons (Rao Pittie giano and Visionnaire, with a sprinkling of the minimalist Scandi-
is also an accomplished dancer) and chess class from different navian aesthetic (courtesy a sofa from Muuto Studio) is enviable,
parts of the house, where the clever use of space befits its residents. but what stands out is the comfort. “A home has to feel comfortable
and hardy,” she explains. “When designing for my clients, I use
LIVING WITH ART resin and wood and keep things light so they can be moved around.”

Propitiously, our interview is scheduled for a relaxed Saturday DESIGN JOURNEY
afternoon, and it starts over the lunch table, laid with conversation-
sparking crockery from Italian company Seletti, which channels Founder of Soka Design Studio, an interior practice she launched
the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi in how it assembles its table- in 2014, Rao Pittie arrived at design after trying her hand at mar-
ware with broken, contrasting pieces of porcelain. There is also a keting, finance and playwriting. In fact, her design trajectory,
gorgeous drinking glass designed in a patchwork of etched crystal which includes stints at Inchbald School of Design and work >
and a hand-painted plate comprising two separate halves that hold
today’s feast—risotto, spaghetti aglio e olio, eggplant parmigiana,
goat cheese and fig arancini, burrata salad, gluten-free pizza and

84

Clockwise, from above: Rao Pittie against
a Jitish Kallat work in her living room.
The focal point of the living room is the
white tree chandelier that stretches
across the ceiling to the wall in one
coloured glass, designed by Rao Pittie

and executed by High Home. Armchairs
from Natuzzi and a sofa from Meroni
& Colzani are placed around a set of

reflective hologram-hued coffee tables
designed by Hatsu. Geometric carpets

from Ilo rugs, Hatsu and Hands are
thoughtfully placed around the house. A
striking blue-grey credenza by Baxter is

placed in the passageway.
Opposite page: In the children’s play area,

a rocking bull in natural ombre from
green to blue, made by Sandeep Sangaru,

lies near the tree house

Clockwise, from top left: The master bedroom is finished with Visionnaire
side tables, a Besana lamp with fabric from Chanel and Dedar, cushions from
Splendour and a bed designed by Jai Danani. Rugiano sofas, Minotti coffee
tables and Roberto Cavalli chairs adorn the sitting room with artworks by
Peruvian sculptor Aldo Chaparro and SH Raza. On the table is a chess set
designed by Rao Pittie, while the feather plume floor lamp is from A Modern
Grand Tour. Rao Pittie seated on one of her self-designed wine-red chairs with
lush folds of interlacing fabric for Splendour. The bar room with a Elliot Walker
tiered glass sculpture features panelled walls that can be easily dismantled and
conceal storage too. The neon-lit pop art piece is by Australian artist Frida. The
furniture includes pieces from Fendi, Kartell, Natuzzi and Splendour

“I literally design a room
around the art”

86

Right: The Baxter dining table
with chairs from Rugiano

is placed under a sculptural
chandelier designed by Rao
Pittie and Arjun Rathi. On the
table, baskets from Heirloom

Naga. On the credenza
(refurbished by Thierry
Betancourt for Splendour)
stands a vintage mask from
the Akha tribe of Thailand
and Naga warrior headgear

sourced by Rao Pittie.
Below: At the door, two
Channapatna chairs by
Sangaru Design Studio are
flanked by an artwork by
Reena Kallat on one side and
a tiered etagere made of
champagne buckets, designed

by Rao Pittie, on
the other

with Noshir Talati and Candy London, only picked up when she been collecting through the years. The furniture isn’t a copy-paste
decided to move from London to India in 2010. job either. It mixes global brands (Fendi, Kartell, Natuzzi and
Splendour), alongside Indian artefacts (Phillips Antiques, Moor-
When we discuss her design influences, Rao Pittie fondly recalls thy’s, Souk Studio and Manglam Arts Jaipur). Among the star-
her boss Martin Kemp as a mentor who expanded her understand- tling design juxtapositions around is an antique palkhi holder
ing of the subject. “His sense of form was unreal, even when visual- from Chennai and an old monstrance from a Portuguese church
ising something as elemental as a table.” Kemp tops her list of all- in Kerala on one of the tables.
time favourite design creatives, along with American designer
Kelly Wearstler who, according to her, has the talent to jam many Rao Pittie’s obsession with art and objets d’art reflects through
patterns into one space and make them work in her own edgy way. eclectic custom-made pieces of varying proportions strewn across
the home. Incidentally, Rao Pittie’s mother was on the board of
And sure enough, there are shades of Kemp and Wearstler in the National Gallery of Modern Art and she’d often curse her luck
Rao Pittie’s distinctly urbane home. One is evident in her absolute while traipsing in and out of galleries as a child. But as fate would
love for form, be it a lush white feather plume floor lamp from A have it, art ultimately became an intrinsic part of her life. “I liter-
Modern Grand Tour or an elaborate philodendron in a planter ally design a room around the art,” says Rao Pittie. So neither the
fashioned from a Nagaland tree. The other is a touch of the bohe- MF Husain mounted on a frame custom-designed by her, nor the
mian, brought alive through a panoply of patterns, colours and lightweight sinuous metal sheath of gold by Peruvian sculptor
styles which sings in its synchronicity. It’s a European sensibility Aldo Chaparro look out of place among the Akbar Padamsee, SH
with large hints of India, an influence Rao Pittie joyfully flaunts. Raza, Nalini Malani and Reena Kallat works dotting the walls.
Take, for instance, the entrance, where an Italian table is flanked
by artisanal Channapatna chairs from Sangaru Design Studio. It’s clear that love is in the details for her. Nearly an entire wall
is dedicated to a sprawling work by Anita Dube, which uses a se-
OBJECTS OF DESIRE ries of ceramic-enamelled Shrinathji eyes, crafted by the artisans
from Nathdwara temple. “During the lockdown, I couldn’t get the
The interior designer’s eye for trimmings emerges in the most un- artist to install it herself so I brought in a stencil artist and mount-
expected corners. It’s in the gently used silverware she inherited ed this work on panels in cement,” says the designer, who has
from her grandmother, in the art her children make for their fa- worked with experts like Kanchan Puri-Shetty for lighting, Kapil
ther which is carefully stored, and the art on her walls that she has Thirwani for bar acoustics and Taera Chowna for landscaping.

Whimsy is another defining character across this home, and it is
best seen through a bunch of champagne buckets stacked up to
make a tiered etagere. “It was an eccentricity. I saw these buckets
in Italy and thought I would make a table of them,” she recalls.

A glass bowl by artist Hanne Enemark, baskets from Heirloom
Naga and a balti vase from Ikkis play off the reflective hologram-
hued Hatsu coffee tables. But the pièce de résistance remains a
self-designed, dramatic white tree chandelier which stretches
from the ceiling to the wall. Just as I begin to wonder if this may
not work out well for two children playing catch, Rao Pittie clari-
fies it’s where the kids freely hang their Christmas tree baubles. n

87

How does an architect go about renovating
an old family home? For Sruthi C Reddy, it
was a “something new, something old”
approach that turned a modest 2bhk in into
an expansive getaway, finds Shalini Shah

Photographed by ISHITA SITWALA
Interior styling by SAMIR WADEKAR

F or a sense of the attention to detail that architect Sruthi
C Reddy put into her family beach house, look at the
ground beneath your feet—specks of yellow peek
through the terrazzo flooring, like sunlight frozen in
concrete, consciously introduced in keeping with the light-dap-
pled mood of her weekend house. White but warm, modern but
not stark—wide, open doorways lead from one room to the other
and ample use of glass allows for a garden view from every cor-
ner—this is a house living in harmony with its surroundings. Prin-
cipal architect and creative director of Ceebros Designworks,
33-year-old Reddy invested eight months into turning her cosy
family home off East Coast Road in Chennai into something that
would stretch to encompass every member’s needs and demands.

FAMILY AFFAIR

The home is situated on a one-acre property that her father, C
Subba Reddy, managing director of Ceebros Property Develop-
ment and The Raintree Hotels, acquired in 1988. Over the years,
the family acquired the adjacent land too (another acre), but the
main house remained untouched. For Sruthi, who graduated from
the School of Architecture and Planning in Chennai and followed >

88

Clockwise, from “We wanted
opposite: The Reddy to keep the
bones of the
family decided house, the
to the retain the structure, and
adapt it to our
original facade
of their weekend requirements”
home in Chennai;
—S R UT H I C R E D DY
Sruthi, creative
director of Ceebros

Designworks with
her sister Swetha of
The Raintree Hotels

and Swetha’s two
children (Keshav and
Arya) at the poolside

pavilion dotted
with 100-year-old
Burmese grain jars;
the living room has a
lamp from Heathfield
& Co and artefacts

from Sri Lanka

it with a master’s from the Rhode Island School of Design, this was
a chance to put her specialisation—Adaptive Reuse—into practice.
“For 30 years, this home was where we spent all our holidays. My
sister [The Raintree Hotels’s Swetha Reddy] now has two kids, and
with all our needs increasing we realised it didn’t suit what we want-
ed today,” she says, reiterating the challenges of making room for
new members in an old family home as time passes.

So, the family sat down, and each member spelt out what he or
she wanted from their weekend home. A pool was a given. Two
bedrooms were proving insufficient. But three decades of memo-
ries meant the edifice and the traditional beams on the roof would
remain untouched. As Sruthi says, “We wanted to keep the bones
of the house, the structure, and adapt it to our requirements and
to whatever we thought was missing.”

GREEN EXPANSE

To that effect, she retained the two bedrooms and kitchen and
demolished everything except the structural elements that kept it
intact. More living spaces were added, as was an entertainment
den. The family entertains regularly, so Sruthi also added a guest
bedroom, an open living area and a sort of bar and a place where
they could cook meals together. (Of course, she put in a swimming
pool, but it also came with a pavilion that offers fabulous views of
the Bay of Bengal—her favourite part of the house.) “If you do a
Google view you’ll see how these three structures have cropped up
in the landscape and then we have a large garden that integrates
them,” Sruthi adds, who enlisted the help of Vadodara-based
landscape designer Manisha Patel for the house.

90

Clockwise from left: The property also housed a coconut grove, and the idea was to
The living room, which expand the garden and not overpower it with a large home. Her
features the home’s mum, Rajini, loves gardening, so there’s a fruit orchard, a vegeta-
original wooden beams ble patch, and jasmine shrubs from where they get the flowers.
on the ceiling, is a
study in beige, housing OLD AND NEW
Mungaru chairs by
Inoda + Sveje from Once inside the house, look up and you’ll see the wooden beams of
Phantom Hands; at the original ceiling; to ensure continuity, they were extended to
the entrance, a pair of the verandah as well. “It was always about not doing something
cow sculptures picked completely afresh but trying to retain some of the elements and
up from an antique weaving it into something new. If you see the space, it’s hard to say
dealer guard the what exactly is the new element and what is the old,” she shares.
house; Sruthi Reddy
at the bar outfitted The synergy between old and new also extends to the furniture
with lights from Iqrup and artefacts here—a 100-year-old rattan and wood bed that once
+ Ritz; the bedroom belonged to Sruthi’s great-great-grandfather now sits grandly
opens to a seating area near the pool area; a striped monochrome carpet that gets reflect-
featuring an heirloom ed like an op-art piece in the mirrored side panels of the box table
bed overlooking the that sits atop it; not very far from a conical brass table is a set of
pavilion and the plump candelabra from Colombo tying the two contrasting styles
garden; the country- together. There’s also a pair of Art Deco chairs that her father
style open kitchen bought at an auction 30 years ago, a Georgian bell jar lantern that
offers a relaxing space casts its glow over the dining table, and Chinese vases collected
for weekend cookouts over the years alongside modern ceramics bought in Sri Lanka.

“There was nothing that I specifically bought for this house in
terms of furniture. I’m a hoarder—when I see beautiful pieces I
want to get them. The only furniture I bought with the house in
mind were the two cream sofas in the living room,” Sruthi points
out. “I was quite clear about not having a very modern or very clas-
sical form per se, so it was easy mixing and matching things in a
contemporary versus old theme.” There are, for instance, the
Iqrup + Ritz lights that hang above the bar, which also seats a figu-
rine from Bangkok’s famous weekend market, Chatuchak. “They
[the lights] are not very classical but I like them because the form
still has a colonial vibe. It’s nice to play with contrasts.”

VIEW FINDER

The idea, according to Sruthi, was to keep it simple. “The materi-
als that I wanted to use, the colours were important—light creams,
with textures of rattan. Most of what you see inside is in an off-
white palette. The house itself is small, so we tried to open it out by
having a sunroom-like area that connects to the garden and incor-
porating a bit of glass, actually a lot of glass, to make it airier.”

The entire renovation was carried out by Sruthi, during which
no family member was even allowed a peek. In a family in the real
estate business, was there a clash of ideas and aesthetics? “Surpris-
ingly, I think it’s one thing we agree on, without a doubt,” she says.

First-time visitors get a sense of this place even before they enter
the home. The compound wall is a bright yellow (“like a Pondi-
cherry French-quarter yellow”). “A lot of my references came from
[Geoffrey] Bawa and Sri Lankan architecture, so when you enter I
wanted to prolong the entry to the actual house,” Sruthi explains.
“So you drive around the property and get dropped at the court-
yard, covered with bananas and temple trees. I wanted to extend
the architectural experience to even where you enter. There’s a col-
onnade added in the front. And we have two cow sculptures that I
found at the local antique dealer’s, they’re like mascots that guard
the house.” Oh, to imagine the sunrises that the pair witnesses. n

91

Photographed by ARSH SAYED Flipping the cliché of susegad Goa, Srimoyi
Styled by PRIYANKA KAPADIA Bhattacharya, the industrious PR maven,
Interior styling by RANJI KELEKAR is rebuilding her practice from a paddy-
view home by architect Ini Chatterji, finds
Megha Mahindru

O laulim is one of those charming Goan villages that challenges. “The difficulty of Goa is to look for something unfur-
inadvertently never shows up on tourist guides. Far nished with a long lease commitment. Those two do not co-exist,”
from the beach but not exactly secluded (it’s a she says, throwing her hands up in the air. “We had three factors
15-minute drive from buzzy Mapusa), a drive down that were important to us—we wanted a standalone home with a
its winding road opens up dazzling views of fluorescent fields on spectacular view that was well-maintained.” After six months of
either sides and into the horizon. “It’s a very special village,” shares relentless calls to brokers and friends, the trio of conditions
PR professional Srimoyi Bhattacharya of Peepul Consulting, who convened when she received photos of this paddy-view home.
left the capital earlier this year to settle into a 110-year-old home
with a field view from its glistening pool. “I first visited Olaulim in A SENSE OF PLACE
2016 and its carefree, rolling hills reminded me of Gene Kelly’s
Brigadoon (1954), which was set in a fictitious, bucolic village. It’s Many city folks would say it’s crazy to live there, but this hamlet is
a tucked-away secret, yet easy to get around.” just where the family came to trade life with the urban jungle of
Delhi. Bhattacharya’s neighbourhood has all of one café, but she
CHANGING LANES was never seeking the thrill of tony Assagao anyway. “For both of
us, one thing we were clear about is that we wanted to get off the
Born and brought up in Paris, Bhattacharya reached the sunny merry-go-round and lead a quieter life,” she shares. The only noise
state through a circuitous path—working at agencies in New York, around is the tatter of birds, monkeys and other tropical fauna,
kick-starting her own practice in Mumbai and expanding it to who are her perennial guests.
Delhi, before moving here with her husband Sourabh and their
daughter, Dayani (nicknamed Nimki). Goa was a distant, Renovated by Goa-based architect Ini Chatterji, the house in-
long-term dream—the sort that most people imagine as their conspicuously blends with the splendid landscape. Visitors enter
retirement plan—but the lockdown and its ensuing work-from- through a palisade to arrive at the driveway, located opposite
home order accelerated the move. “The retirement plan became a Chatterji’s landmark studio (commonly known as the Ice Factory,
mid-life plan,” smiles the 48-year-old. “Neither of us was ready to after its erstwhile operation), and walk up to her upcoming
leave Delhi so fast, we really loved our life there, but the lockdown permaculture kitchen garden on one side, while another patch of
was the perfect opportunity to do this. Why wait till 60 when you luxuriant green opens to a field view on the other side.
can enjoy the life you built today?”
Once inside, the home linearly takes you through its public and
For the peripatetic Bhattacharya, moving lock, stock and barrel private arenas. An al fresco terrace which faces the pool and the
has been the norm every few years, but Goa came with its set of verdant fields is the family’s most-used spot for meals and mus-
ings. Indoors, the house is divided into three cavernous sections, >

92

Kimono dress, Maus by
Annika Fernando

Dress, Alamelu

Clockwise, from top left:
Kokeshi dolls from Japan, a
sculpture by Claymen and
Bhattacharya’s baubles are
among some of her memorable
possessions; Bhattacharya
with Momo in her dining area
against a canvas by Sri Lankan
artist Priyantha Udagedara;
in the background, ceramic
artist Shweta Mansingka’s
giant apple; In the living room,
Ashiesh Shah’s Longpi vases
hold foraged banana leaves,
sofas by Iqrup+Ritz and Baro,
furnishings by Toile Indienne,
jute carpet by Casegoods and
cushions by Janavi.
Opposite page: The master
bedroom, where poppy curtains
by Brigitte Singh play off a
chevron sofa from Baro, Art
Deco chairs by Serendipity and
a coffee table by Iqrup+Ritz;
the family at their favourite
terrace area; the ochre
anteroom, like every room in
the house, features a wall of
tomes that offers a glimpse of
the family’s voracious appetite
for fine art, objects and design;
an artwork by Saskia Pintelon
94

Sari, Good Earth
95

Clockwise: The pool
area is engulfed in
greenery; Dayani

with Tokyo and Saké
in the work area;

Bhattacharya seated
at the boudoir in her
bedroom; her anteroom
is a repository of art,

design and books

Blue African wax dress,
Obaapa Originals.

Hairband, Olivia Dar.
Shoes, Michel Vivien

Hair and makeup: Laila Dalal
Art direction: Snigdha Kulkarni
Production: Divya Jagwani
Visuals editor: Jay Modi

Dress, D’Ascoli.
Earrings, Katerina

Psoma

allocated with the obligatory functions of entertaining, working bedrooms, kilims meet Kanchipuram and chinoiserie merges with

and sleeping. The entry to this tropical refuge is through the living chevron, bringing about a tasteful mix of styles and eras. Garden

and dining area, a place where everybody meets. As you go deeper, picked heliconias and birds of paradise enliven the space further,

a guest room, a master bedroom, a common work area and finally, while art by Jamini Roy plays off with curtains by Brigitte Singh.

Nimki’s bedroom reveal the private quarters. “It has the challeng-

es of a Goan house—the light inside, the humidity that ensures we FRINGE BENEFITS

wipe the back of all artworks routinely, and basically a home that In this romantic but forgotten corner, there are some remnants of

constantly needs love and care. But the trade-off is so huge that we their fast-paced Delhi life. “When we moved from Bombay to

don’t think about it,” says Bhattacharya. Delhi, it felt like a change of zip code. Here, it’s a change of life-

INTO THE WILD style,” notes Bhattacharya. Unlike the powerhouse publicist with a
busy life in Delhi, who clocked meetings, lunches, parties and

It is said that the best architects turn liabilities into assets, and events all in a day’s work, her preoccupations are markedly differ-

Chatterji’s solution lay in “stripping everything back” to its honest- ent: “Now it’s about how to bring the coconuts down or where to

to-goodness bones while chalking out design interventions that find a snake rescuer,” she says with a laugh. “Instead of going to a

suited Goa’s climate and topography. In 2010, when he bought the mall on the weekend, we go to the beach or the nursery.”

home, he peeled off the walls and tiles to reveal a design vision that That’s not to say that she’s no longer busy. Besides her flourish-

was organic in form. It gave the home—and even its bathrooms—a ing PR practice, Bhattacharya is now a published author (her book,

handmade quality. To combat humidity indoors, he designed open Pitch Perfect, released on Penguin Random House last month) and

cupboards, currently veiled by curtains that a budding entrepreneur with TableCode by

Bhattacharya scoured from Kolkata’s Rus- “Goa has made Sri that she launched in August. “I wanted to
sell Street Anokhi, to keep the mildew away. us look at our do something rooted in Goa,” says the
“It’s a way of life. To build successfully, you day differently. incorrigible worksmith about her new
need to understand both the engineering passion project that brings tastemakers
and the natural forces at play,” says the There’s from the interior space to put together
reticent architect. something about beautiful tablescapes.
this environment;
We are at his home, located a few steps you feel healthy, Even in this island life, she’s compartmen-
from Bhattacharya’s haven. A design marvel talised weekends from weekdays. “There’s a
made from coconut wood, his material of general sense that if you live in Goa you’re
choice is not just emblematic of his ecologi- just bumming around. But our days are hec-
cal sensitivity, but also showcases a practice tic. Sourabh and I still have a full day of
built around honouring the natural setting work. Our work hasn’t suffered. On the con-
with an emphasis on “man interacting with trary, we are re-energized by our surround-
nature”. A wall-less space, Chatterji’s “work- ings, so stress is low and the output, better.”
in-progress” abode engages with the ele-
Since they moved here in February,

ments through louvred windows and abso- happy and safe” Nimki too has had her hands full. Besides
lutely no doors, indicating a life that is open attending virtual school, she has adopted

to an exchange of ideas. two indies, Tokyo and Saké, the latest addi-

To the city-bred couple, a living room tions to their family, which also has a pic-

without an air conditioner was unthinkable, but the architect’s ture-perfect poodle called Momo. “Goa has made us look at our

clever use of slatted doors and windows, which allow for easy entry day differently. Sourabh started learning to swim with Nimki. The

of cooling breeze, reconciled the family. “It never feels hot,” ex- fact that the pool is right here, we just jump in after a day’s work.

claims Bhattacharya, when we first meet in May, the sweltering There’s something about this environment; you feel healthy,

month popularly designated as the beginning of Goa’s off-season. happy and safe.”

In rainy July, when we meet again, she’s equally incredulous of A year ago, she never thought she’d settle into village life so eas-

visiting friends who ask if it ever gets dull so far out. “Bored? My ily. “After observing nature from our balcony, we are now living in

landscape is always changing with the season, so how can I get nature,” she notes. This also meant unlearning the ways of the city.

tired of this view?” “You can’t live the way you lived in Delhi,” she shares, recalling an

If Chatterji’s genius lies in creating an elemental space that anecdote about an impulse generator purchase that startled the

strikes a tropical note with minimal footprint, Bhattacharya’s mix- village. “I understand that we are to reprogramme—the lights need

and-match approach plays a mediating role in marrying diverse to be dim and the noise levels need to be respectful for the birds and

stylistic components into a definable look. Her house is colourful the bees to take over. So we are transitioning to re-align.”

but it’s also very zen. Invigorated with objects from various travels, The change is also in the company they keep today. Leaving the

it’s cheerful yet calming. Through a catalogue of home-grown indulgent life of a Delhi publicist who was often cajoled with gifts,

designs (Baro, Claymen, Ikkis, Good Earth to name a few), a com- one box after another, here the bounty is enriching. “What I love

bination of Bengal modern art and Sri Lankan contemporary art most about our friends here is that they just show up—with a house

and tchotchkes from Sri Lanka to Paris and Japan, Bhattacharya shrub or a home-made loaf of bread. There’s no making an ap-

shows her joie de vivre and an unabashed love for colour. In her pointment,” she says, “and therein lies a warmer connection.” n

97

BLACKBOOKSHOPPING GUIDE, ENTERTAINING AND HOME SOLUTIONS

Home is where P ooja Singhal’s home is a muse- ADIL HASAN (POOJA)
the art is um of her life. The Delhi-based
entrepreneur grew up in a
Pichvai patron and entrepreneur household where collecting art
Pooja Singhal opens up her art-filled was a family activity, and she has nurtured
Delhi home that spins fascinating the passion ever since. “My mum was a big
tales of folklore and modernity. collector,” Singhal says of her childhood in
By Avantika Shankar Udaipur. The City of Lakes also happens to
be a flourishing market for Pichvai art
Photographed by ASHISH SAHI (devotional hand-printed textile paintings
that originate in the nearby village of
Nathdwara). “The artists themselves had a
relationship with my mum, and I remem-

98 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in

FOCUS

IN THE FRAME
Clockwise, from left: In the living room, a
sculpture by Himmat Shah flanks a wall
with artwork by Zarina Hashmi, Akbar
Padamsee and Jogen Chowdhury. The
dark-toned furniture comprises a couch by
DeMuro Das and tables by Baxter; a series
of Ramayana miniatures and a brass wall
sculptures by Astha Butail are on display
in the main dining area; a DeMuro Das
console is ornamented with a sculpture
by Manjunath Kamath, a photograph by
Umrao Singh Sher-Gil and a vase from
Good Earth; Opposite page: Art collector
Pooja Singhal at her home in Delhi

ber how a lot of them would come home nest when she moved into her own apart-
with their bundles of wrapped paintings.” ment. “In my parents’ house it was always a
collective decision: ‘Do we all like this
Singhal studied economics and pursued painting, or do we not?’” she says. “But
an MBA but was always drawn to the arts. when I moved out, buying art was about
In 2004, she set up Ruh, a label that brings finding my own self-expression.”
the craft of handloom to contemporary
fashion. In 2009, she launched Pichvai: Singhal recalls a specific moment that
Tradition and Beyond, an enterprise that marked the launch of her collecting
aims to revive and preserve the art form. journey: at a preview of India Art Fair in
She recalls purchasing her first artwork 2017, she came upon an exhibition
when she was in class 12, a work by Jitish hosted by Gallery Espace. “There was this
Kallat, which still hangs in her Udaipur wall of about 25 of Zarina Hashmi’s works,”
home. But she only began collecting in ear- she says, “I had no idea who she was at >

the time, but I was so drawn to it—it was an Ramayana miniatures—a perfect balance holiday in Bangkok. “My home will always
unbelievable connection. And I said, ‘I have of Singhal’s versatile aesthetic. This small be a collection of my travels, and all the
to have this wall.’” While Singhal couldn’t spark of tradition offers a glimpse of the beautiful things that connected with me.”
afford the entire wall, she did come away floor above, which functions as a by-
with 12 artworks. “I didn’t start out think- appointment gallery to view Singhal’s The fourth floor is where Singhal’s
ing, ‘This is an artist I must have in my Pichvais. Here, a teakwood dining table sensibilities truly shine, holding the most
collection,’’’ she says. “It is a spiritual from Casegoods offers spare seating, the treasured pieces of her collection. An
exercise—you become silent, and you really arrangement of which encourages antique Chinese cabinet, gifted to Singhal
see how you respond to that artwork, and movement, exploration and conversation.
then the curiosity of the mind begins.”
The third floor, designed for Singhal’s
STOREYED HOME children’s godfather, sees a lot of minimal-
ist, contemporary furniture and sculpture.
Singhal’s four-and-a-half floor Delhi The highlight of this floor is a wall installa-
apartment is a metaphorical map of her tion by Danish artist Alke Reeh, crafted in
art-collecting journey. “The original archi- the style of a fabric skirt but made of rigid
tecture of the apartment was very neutral,” plaster. On the other side, a sculptural side
she says, “It had beige khareda sandstone, table in wood and steel by Belgian designer
and the walls were off-white—for me that Arno Declercq complements a brown
was perfect.” Over time, each floor took on leather Baxter chair. Much of the furniture
an identity of its own. The first floor, where was acquired on holiday, in a process simi-
Singhal entertains guests, is muted: dark lar to that with which Singhal purchases
Italian furniture, contemporary sculptures, art. “Everywhere I travel, I come back with
sketches in ink on paper. In the dining something,” she says. A wall of her terrace
room, clean-lined furniture from Baxter is is adorned with African masks, she found
strikingly complemented by a brass wall centre tables from Baxter’s Bidu collection
sculpture by Astha Butail. Offsetting the while she was in Italy, and purchased
arrangement on the far side is a series of Alexander Lamont’s candle stands on

100 CASA VOGUE INDIA 2021 www.vogue.in