Indian art decor

The world of fine living and home décor has, for some time now, drilled into our heads that ‘less is more'. That European minimalism is the style to embrace; that straight lines will deposit you to the doorstep of décor heaven. So when design diva Raseel Gujral recently launched her Indophile collection in Mumbai, the imagination swiftly went to a place filled with jharokhas and divans, tie ‘n' dye and block printing, a hint of Mughal architecture on a coffee-table imbued in Makrana marble, of delicate filigree beds and sun-burst cupboards. All of these dotting the landscape in shades of brown, off-white, and maybe tinged with red.

But as soon as you enter her store, Casa Paradox, in the cheek-by-jowl newly-developed home décor hub of Lower Parel's Raghuvanshi Mills Compound, you're a bit startled. Because in this large, high-ceilinged, mezzanine-floored store, nothing is as it was in your head. Colours rush at you as if you were being sucked into a whirlpool of luminosity. Barbie-pink chairs and deep aqua blue cushions, lime-green breakfast trays and magenta bedspreads, vases in a bouquet of raspberry and blueberry colours. Side tables and lamps in other vibrant shades. Was this Alice in Wonderland or what? I half-expected a dormouse to emerge from under a low table with silver legs, and the Queen of Hearts to hurl a pink tray at me, shrieking “Off with her head!” But this is Indophile, and I had to remind myself that I ought to find the Indianness in it.

But first I had to find Raseel and get her to put things in perspective. After all, on closer inspection, these fine pieces do scream Indian with an international accent. The pieces on display are made from lacquer, metals, brocades, semi-precious stones, embellished mirror and things that we usually use in Indian homes. Raseel herself is dressed in a bright pink ensemble that matches the background. “Colours need no excuse, colour is oxygen. My collection signifies celebration with colours; it is a blend of traditional yet urban styles, and patterns which are expressed in vivid hues,” she says, taking in the landscape proudly. It reminds me of a piece I once read in the Italian issue of Vogue , when a writer visited an arty upscale designer boutique and all she saw around her were earthy shades of brown and beige and off-white. “Where are the colours,” she asked the designer, “because from the time I stepped off the plane in India, all I saw around me were colours.” Raseel stands vindicated.

The pieces of furniture, a silver chair, black lacquered side-tables with a lush lime-green lamp atop, and other such things were inspired by “Luscious living for the Indian diva. I want to have non-serious fun and celebrate being. That is the idea behind the collection. It is an amalgamation of India rooted, yet contemporary styles and patterns,” she says. While that does come out in her pieces, you get a sense of fusion too. Raseel however is emphatic that it is not so. Modern Indian is more like it. Pointing to a breakfast tray, she says, “The playful act of colours gives an aesthetic fusion to the designs. But it is largely Indian by design.” We agree.

Walking around, you wonder how much of all this we could live with. “Certainly not all of them together at once,” says Naveen Ansal, her husband and partner, “but definitely when you do up your home some of these become the cornerstone of your design. It becomes a talking point.” You might, for instance, use one of the silver seating arrangements in your living room while the rest of the room is done in subdued tones. Or a pink chair with flair in the corner of your bedroom makes for an interesting focal point.

Surprisingly, the prices are not going to dent your budget; that's, of course, if you choose wisely. After all, Raseel has created this furniture for “anyone from 15 to 50 years who has youthful choices and can be effortlessly enticed by the lure of these forms and colours.”

Stepping out of the store, I hear some wild screeching in a tree. I look up to see a couple of green parrots shrieking at a golden cat, who's attempting to get too close to them. Green, gold, brown… the drama of colours spills out on the streets.

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