December 24, 2013
Tushar Desai for years has done an admirable job of holding together and conducting a very fair and inclusive design competition for the Indian Institute of Interior Designers (IIID), that just gets bigger and better each day. With Bimal Mistry now joining the effort its got even better.
This year they published for the first time a year book, that compiled all the winning entries for 2012.
Its a valuable publication.
When putting it together they requested an essay and gave me no time lines, and so I dashed it off to him in a day . It did not make the cut; and I understand what rejection is . :-). Do read it.
The essay is a tongue in cheek comment on Interior Design in India today. The last time I did something like this publicly I was all but flogged and burnt on a cross. This time I hope the reaction is gentler.
The Tales of Karna
Not so long ago, Karna, a young lad was an aspiring passionate interior designer, who just could not get any one to teach him. Undeterred by this, he decided to learn on his own. And he decided that seeing things and imagining about them was a good way to proceed. And he had only six days! For some reason Krishna was looking for him and they had to meet on the seventh. This is what he wrote in his diary.
Day One
I was in a room with many chairs and tables. All kinds. Some were low, some had flared backs, some hard seats, some with cold metal backs, some tables with marble tops, some painted, and others gnarled. It occurred to me that this felt like a room with people. Some strangers. Some friends. And they were in some conversation. Some sulked. Others observed.
Moral: Objects of interior design are like people- strangers or friends in a room- they can talk, smile and snarl at each other. Or crack jokes- be quirky. Or solemn. Make sure they do.
Day Two
It was another space. Crowded. With people, and objects. As I made my way through it, I was careful not to hit anyone, side stepped the tall lamp carefully, squeezed between two chests, was careful not to scrape my knee on the metal hook that stuck on the edge of old bed, and just missed knocking the tall clock down. It was all so close!
Moral: After cloths, objects of interior come closest to the human body. They surround us, they touch us, they brush against us. Deal with them with as much care as you would when seeking something warm in a freezing cold, or a thin something in a hot humid day. They will decide how your body can thrive and feel.
Day three
This was a strange set of rooms. One after another. One had all kinds of cloth- some knitted tight, some in cross weave, others silken, some rough, some like velvet, and each cloth had a man sitting next to it and he told stories about where it was made, how and what it meant. The other room had quilts. And people were counting the stitches in each one of them. Some had patterns like they were from people of the mountains, others were floral, yet others abstract, and in this room too there were people telling tales. The next room, had hundreds of pieces of wood- some cut straight, others across, some hard, some with flaky skin, some brown, some red. And here too was a man telling how many good monsoons each wood had, and where it grew, and how strong it was. This went on and on. Room after room. Candles, Lamps, Hardware, On and On.
Moral: Interiors are made of so many things and each one of them had so many possibilities and history; never assume you know them all- it’s impossible- keep searching- keep learning- keep being appreciative.
Day four
He saw an architect and an interior designer arguing. The architect was a good man and had done a nice room. It was square, had nice long windows. The interior designer wanted it round. They argued some more. Finally the architect gently told him, that his space would never look right if it did not have the right curtains, the right carpets, beautifully made chairs, nice tables, and wonderful lamps, and ofcourse nice cushions, and clocks, and cupboards and shelves- and he went on and on. And then said he could not do this at all, only the interior designer could so would he still want to change the room or really dream of these things and make them finely crafted only for this space. The interior designer smiled.
Moral: There is so much to do as an interior designer- a whole lot more often than making four walls- and a whole lot more fun and creative- so why spend energy where it’s not needed?
Day five
He was in a hurry now. He had only one day to go. He was going to many places. In a room where he was next to the roaring sea; he could only feel the sea if he opened the window and smelt the spray; the objects could have been from any place for any place. In another room above a very noisy and crowded road he saw the objects that made the place very quiet and peaceful. The noise roared in, but he felt calmed. In yet another which was an old shipping house, something about the new place reminded him of its history all the time.
Moral: Interior design can easily position us in our world, physically and metaphysically- and conversely it can also make us schizoid.
Final day
He came across a group of men who were carefully sanding a wooden knob for a large door. Gently they sand papered it, and kept looking at it every now and then. A little away in the room a man was using a set of chisels and carefully etching a stone. And yet in another corner a lady sands serenely and quilted a lovely patchwork. They sang and seemed very happy.
And just across a noisy vehicle roared in and dumped things tied in plastic that seemed like it was being used to make a similar place across- just not crafted with love.
Moral: Revere the hand and mind celebration always and as much. When you forget its joys, change the work you do- stop designing,
And then on the 7th day came Krishna and tried to win Karna over. He used all his guile, but Karna refused and stayed unmoved. But as history knows, he expended his knowledge when he should have held it close, and his fears made him sink – human fears and someone’s treachery- or it would have been another story altogether!
Aniket Bhagwat
