Pondicherry…
Better known to the world for Auroville, beach resorts, French colony and to the lesser mortals for tax-free alcohol... This little union territory turned state unfolded as a treasure-trove when I visited the place last weekend. The visit wouldn’t have been such an eye-opener had I not gone through the hassle of furnishing a house with very little funds. Especially, when you want an aesthetic look, with a lot of wood, it costs you a fortune..
The designer in me had loads and loads of ideas, but very little funds…Part of this unaffordable dream was wooden pillars, a wooden swing, and a diwan. We needed them for our living room, to recline and laze out aesthetically …After checking out the stores in the metros, we decided, living rooms do not need them after all…We can still live there and laze out in our old furniture.
Some divine soul had told dad that they sold used furniture in Pondicherry… Furniture, used by the French/Dutch of Pondy, Chettiars of Karaikudi, Mughal descendants of Karaikal, Zamindars of a better world and many other ancestors… If new furniture is very expensive, used furniture should still be expensive, but, we decided to give it a try.
Lo! Behold! (guess that is the expression for amazement in antique English) ...Suddenly, Pondicherry was a whole new(Should I say ‘old’?) world... Furniture world…Antiques....Elaborately designed, intricately carved, remarkably strong furniture…Lying there with all its serenity attained through age…They have outlived mankind and have witnessed the high and low of life – prosperity and poverty, royalty and rubble.. Pillars that once adorned mansions, cots that lulled the rich, chests brimming with silk and gems, now dismantled and at the mercy of the trader for its life and lusture.
Getting back to reality, all this, for a very affordable price. We bought a lorry load of furniture which was quite a variety – pillars, a swing, a chest, a diwan – all this for INR 28,000!! All’s well so far…But how can human mind accept satisfaction this easily?! DOUBT! and DISTRUST! crept into our minds.. If it is this less expensive, can it be genuine?
I looked into WWW for satinwood...coz we hadn’t heard about it before, it says, this is a rare durable wood...and there is an American website selling antique pillars which is around $4500 per piece!! If the pillar we bought has xylem relations with what is flashed in this website, it triggered a serious thought in me…
Like the colonial days, we are still being looted…. We are being looted not only by the East India company, but by companies from East, West, North and South now! The riches of India, is being bought for a few thousands from our struggling small scale traders, and is being sold for outrageous rates abroad…
So, if you are thinking of buying furniture, take a look at the shops in metro, then go to Pondicherry....and look at the tiny shops there.... you might not only end up as a happy customer but would really help in retaining wealth and prosperity in India…It might not be practically possible to help the traders get more money, but you can stop the riches of India from being exported…
