The Hindu Business Line : Touch wood

Shakti Ganapati furniture doesn't believe in superfluous style, rather the creations thrive on quality and craftsmanship. Indeed this is real honest-to-goodness wood.

It was a dream. Deepak Chengappa told his newly married wife Reshma that when he was 60, he would like to have achieved the distinction of running a good furniture business. Reshma Chengappa smiles, "I told him that if that's what he would really like to do, then we should start right away." Her husband, then a freelance consultant in construction and interiors, gave it all up to set up Shakti Ganapati furniture. He describes their enterprise as, "original in design and perfect in craftsmanship".

Reshma recalls, "To begin with, we made furniture for our home. In fact, I remember, when we told our carpenter to work on our first George Nakashima-inspired two-legged chair, he simply refused saying a chair would never stand on two legs!" She points to a stately piece in burnished teak that gives the impression of years of favoured use. Deepak confirms, "As you can see, it's still very much around. That happened eight years ago. The furniture we make is of the kind that can be passed down generations. That is what we set out to do."

The going was not good to begin with. With no money for advertising or, for that matter, a large inventory or catalogue, the couple struggled to convince the few people who would turn up and say, "Is that all you have?" But things picked up and, soon, a discerning and loyal clientele was established. Now, their creations are bought by foreign embassy staff posted in Chennai, who carry their precious purchase along with them where ever they go. "Now, of course, we have had to take up a separate house just to store our samples. All of our customers have come because someone has referred them to us. They like what they see and make their purchase," says Reshma. Adds Deepak, "Our pieces are made to order and delivery can take up to two-and-a-half months. Handcrafting furniture is a slow process. I supervise everything, right down to the choosing of a particular piece of wood. I work closely with the carpenters. If something goes wrong, the whole thing is redone as this is furniture meant to last for a hundred years."

Shakti Ganapati furniture, made with hard woods such as teak, padauk and white cedar, uses no nails or wooden pegs. The joints are honed to perfection and it is the craftsmanship that gives every piece its elegance, strength and stability. For example, the Marina chair, an original Shakti Ganapati design, uses padauk, which is naturally red. The spindles are of white cedar. The handle is a perfect Chinese wedge-nail joint. The back leg and the main spindle are aligned perfectly. The finish is common to all pieces of furniture. It's done with three coats of tung oil, a resinous deep penetrating natural extract. The final rubbing down is with extra fine steel wool. The Mekery Series, on the other hand, have a rectangular frame, curved legs and removable upholstery.

Says Reshma, pointing to a large, impeccable dining table that has been used by the family for several years, "It is not as if things don't spill or break on it. We too have children. But a dab with a soft cloth and the shine is back. In fact, the older our furniture gets, the better it looks. The tung oil penetrates every pore of the wood. It serves to protect as well as beautify every piece. Over the years it only gets more lustre and character, as the finish is inside."

"Mass manufacture is an economic truth, but there are three basic problems with it," explains Deepak, "It is possible to hide mistakes. Speed increases turnover, but destroys quality. There is also increased wastage of a natural resource like wood. Only soft woods like rubber wood can be mass manufactured. It is not possible with hard woods like teak that need careful handling. We want to make something that will be passed from father to son. The disposable culture is very much a Western concept."

"In fact," adds Reshma, who holds a Masters in Business Administration, "Most of our customers are middle-class people who are looking for quality. They find that they are buying something that is really value for money. Deepak still goes to the saw mill to choose the wood with the right grains depending on what it is that we are making — a chair or a table or whatever. The grains are book-matched (a cross-section that matches like the pages of a book) for the perfect finish. We do work with the customer if they come to us with ideas of their own. We are lucky to have a master carpenter who started with us and now, he has trained his son too."

The couple would like the business to grow in a slow and stable way. Deepak says, "For the kind of work we want to deliver, we don't want to grow too quickly because it will mean we will have to compromise on quality. We would like to introduce one new design every year. And, if possible, have one or two stockists abroad since furniture like this is not easily available and costs a huge sum in Europe and the US. We don't aim to be target-oriented. This is what we would like to be. A client should take a chair home sit on it and wake up every morning and still think how nice it is."

Reshma sums up, "This is not about style. Style can be stuck on any muck. The grains go all the way down. Turn the furniture around any way and it will look equally good. This is solid. It is real and honest."

Pictures by Bijoy Ghosh

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