CHENNAI: From the iconic godrej almarah to the majestic ambassador car, the book Pukka Indian records a collection of 100 objects that are intimate to Indian households. Every object is presented with the date of origin and materials that went into its creation. "A lot of research went into the book and it took many years to complete. When I started, many people underestimated the diversity in designs in India. Now I've proved them wrong," says author Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan. Born in Lucknow, the writer, traveller and perfumer currently shuttles between Paris and Goa.
The book captures the essence of objects from all parts of the country by giving it a balanced approach. "The key importance is that it treats all states equally and I have not really showed any differences. In fact, each object deserves a book of its own," says the author.
Agarbatti is the first of the symbols she talks about, probably because she is a perfumer. Next is the Amar Chitra Katha and it is the only printed graphic novel in her book. Known to have inspired many web series of the time, it definitely makes it one of a kind. Next comes Amrutanjan balm which was used by the soldiers during the second world war. The book goes on to include objects under different category like culinary equipment, furniture, wardrobe and jewellery. "A lot of people perhaps ask me where the design sense in India is heading towards? And, I think perhaps the only object in the book that is regressive is the chula or chimney. I also wanted to include a part that explains how a particular object can be used or a design can be worn," she says.
Jahnvi completed her degree in Architecture in Japan. "While Indian designs are sensible, Japanese designs are based on geometry and lines," she shares. When you take a close look, quite a few objects have gone places like the idli pathram which was native to South India. Now it has gone all the way North to introduce an item called idli. Meanwhile ch4 chairs have created a revolution during its period, used in most of the government offices. The Butaca chair has travelled all the way to Caribbean Islands, lost its arm there and went further up to the west coast. "Given a chance, I would have included the khaki uniform and buttons. Both originated in India," she tells us.
Jahnvi will also be launching her perfume called Eleven Visconti in Bombay shortly. The perfume, a combination of lemon and chilli flavour, is actually the object number 101. But it was created after the book was launched. "Perfumery demands intense training and studying over the years. You can smell different scents and guess the compositions but replicating them is the difficult part. India has some of the exquisite fragrances and I am lucky to be well-acquainted with the natural and synthetic palette ," she shares. She has just conceptualised the idea for her next book.
Jahnvi's favourite five
Goli soda bottle
Istri petti (charcoal iron box)
Choti (bridal hair extension)
Mandira (wooden churner)
Punkah (hand fan)
(Pukka Indian is available on Amazon for `1,596)