My Bengali Home...

A home should have a character...this is something I have always believed and that faith got etched on stone when I joined the design school. The very first lesson was to find my own style...something that defines me...something that I believe in.

Much later when I got married and started setting up the house I had no set vision. All I wanted was to combine easy elegance with functionality. I was lucky to have got a blank canvas and buy everything that we needed.

When it started taking shape I wondered how my aesthetics lied in my Bengali root and Indian philosophy.The most important characteristic of Indian theory of beauty lies in the concept of 'Santarasa'...

where silence or quietness is not only the absence of sound but the silence of desires and thoughts.  A state of mental concentration that brings inner peace, a spiritual experience par excellence.

it was a blessing to have grown up in Santiniketan, where Tagore's idea of being surrounded by nature and beauty in the most basic and mundane form inspired and influenced my senses at very early years.

The various aspects and substance of art and culture were imbibed in me during my school years itself and later carved me as a person. That very essence of Tagore’s teaching was, to encourage a person to be what he is, was a big confidence booster for all of us. 

We learned to live with the nature and appreciate beauty in simplicity. Nature, its forms and Tagore’s ideologies are a big part of my designing aesthetics and it gets reflected in my home decor too. 

So my haat pakha (hand held palm leaf fan), Kansa'r Bason (metal utensils) or Dhama (cane baskets) are not only used as props in my food styling but they posses their own space throughout the house.

Every thing that are handmade lures me and I love to use all sorts of Indian handicraft in my house.

Overtime during our travel to other countries I have collected a few items that I keep close to me and display proudly.

Both me and my style are desi, Bengali to be precise and it's very nature lies in every things indigenous to my own country. 

Home truly for me is where my heart lies. It's the most sacred of them all...blessed by the almighty...

With this I believe to have found my calling. What's your style? Will you share...