It was Le Corbusier who said that “the home should be a treasure chest of the living,” but we’d like to add some riches of the material variety, too. Especially as it is the season when the goddess of wealth is welcomed into homes across the country. Ahead of Diwali, here’s looking at linen, candles and more to give you that house-proud glow.

Think glass and brass | Good Earth

Lanterns and candle stands

Maximalism can seem the way to go this season, but there’s also a case to be made for a more minimal approach. Good Earth has simple rose-tinted glass candle stands — featuring a bowl shape and petal-like designs to create a ‘blooming’ effect — iron latticework lanterns for the living room, with brass plating, and even a statement Valley of the Flowers centrepiece cast in sustainably sourced, recycled brass. ₹2,800 onwards at goodearth.in

Dealing the best card | Onset Homes

Runners and coasters

The Kolkata-based soft furnishings studio’s newest collection, Jashn, showcases a colourful interpretation of a taash (card) party. Their range of cushion covers, runners, and coasters uses velvet in a colour palette with rich emerald greens, maroons, and creams. Motifs such as clubs, diamonds, the Queen of Hearts, and the King of Spades, feature heavily. ₹800 onwards at onsethomes.com.

Phoenix on the table | FA Home

Bed and table linen

Indian craftsmanship strongly inspire this Gurgaon-based textile furnishing brand’s range of bed and table linen. Their current collection spotlights Parsi Gara, with embroidery, 3D appliqué and zari embellishments highlighting nature inspired motifs such as peonies, lotus and the phoenix. Available in linen, cotton, and cotton satin fabrics. ₹1,400 onwards at shopfahome.com.

Curated with a cause | Baro Market

Tealight holders and themed candles

Looking outside ‘just interiors’, Baro Market works with artists, craftsmen and designers from across India. Alongside apparel, textiles, and folk art, their vast home section — with linen, tableware, rugs, and décor pieces — offers unique picks. We have our eyes on their range of whimsical candles. Find kooky firecracker themes, delightfully realistic-looking cocktail candles, and poker-themed ones on their website and their Mumbai store. Also browse their selection of lanterns, brass tealight holders, and exquisitely detailed shola flowers. ₹500 onwards at baromarket.in.

Amulets for the house | Vaishali S Art Deco.

Textile art and signature lamps

Vaishali Shadangule’s eponymous fashion label also makes statement objets d’art. Crafted from leftover fabric and repurposed material from her couture line, Shadangule reimagines them as textile art, copper light fixtures, mogra curtains, and her signature lamps. Her new collection, Ta’wiz, plays on the concept of an amulet worn for protection — using corded and cloth ‘amulets’ to create chandeliers, lamps, quilts, cushions and tapestries. ₹18,000 onwards; available in stores and on vaishali-s.com.

Metallic highlights | Nicobar

Candle stands and tealight holders

The homegrown brand never fails to delight. Add details to your festive table with their Gudhal candle stands and tealight holders. Inspired by the hibiscus flower, and crafted in iron with a gold or bronze finish, these are perfect to create multiple visual levels for you table setting. ₹1,450 onwards at nicobar.com.

Breathe free | Ugaoo

Planters and air-purifying plants

If you’d rather spend on improving your quality of life, online garden store Ugaoo has something for you. Their ‘Sajaao with Ugaoo’ campaign has curated hampers pairing traditional Diwali gifts such as sweets, dry fruits, and brass diyas, with planters, air-purifying plants, and potting mixes. So, why not gift yourself a touch of green? ₹1,099 onwards at ugaoo.com.

An alabaster approach | Shades of India

Cushions and curtains

Textured textiles are a signature of the brand, from embroidery to printing with foil. Their new range of furnishing fabrics, Cedar, includes bedding, cushions, table linen, and curtains inspired by nature and organic forms. Cotton slub cushion covers are decorated with zardozi embroidery, while handwoven throws are accented with bands of mashru weave and fuchsia tassels. ₹3,000 onwards at shadesofindia.com.

No place like home | H&M Home

Candles and platters

The global retail giant’s Festive’24 collection can take you from Diwali to Christmas. Round candles, golden candelabras, plush throws, sleek serving platters, and brightly coloured cushions in reds, yellows and oranges make for cheery additions to your décor. The collection, from ₹249 onwards, is available in stores and online on hm.com, Myntra and Ajio.

Call of the night | Freedom Tree

Rugs and lampshades

This Mumbai design studio takes inspiration from the nocturnal side of nature for Moonflower, their autumn-winter festive collection. Phases of the moon, human forms farming night-blooming flowers, moths and other creatures of the night tell evocative tales in this collection of cushions covers, upholstery fabric, rugs, lampshades and more.

The tableware especially, in shades such as Luna blue, Saturn sand and astral green, is stunning. ₹520 onwards at freedomtree.in.

Furniture and collectibles from Evoke, the design store in London’s chic Marylebone area, can be found in tony drawing rooms across the world. Run by Sridhar Poddar and his mum Vandana Poddar, it showcases crafts from across the world, but with a special focus on India and Africa. “All craft forms are interconnected. They have a universal language,” says Vandana, who was born in South Africa to a Gujarati family. “Both India and Africa are rich in tribal communities whose craft traditions are inspired by nature and utility.”

Some of Evoke’s collectibles are on exhibit in Bengaluru, at Kaash, the studio-cum-residency that also has the mother and son’s stamp. Shields from Cameroon, textile artworks from Ahmedabad, and sculptures from Zimbabwe dot the gallery space inside the 200-year-old villa in Langford Town. “The masks from Tanzania are similar to the bhuta masks of Kerala and Karnataka, and the beaded Yoruba chairs remind you of the beadwork practised in Kutch and Saurashtra in Gujarat,” shares Vandana, underlining the commonalities between crafts.

Vandana Poddar with Leonora Stathakis

Yoruba crowns and beaded chairs from Nigeria are some of the highlights of the show. The cone-shaped blue-and-white beaded headpieces, worn by the Oba (king) to underline his role as a divine leader, are adorned with geometric forms and fauna. The Makonde body masks, representing a pregnant woman with a protruding stomach and rounded breasts, are another eye-catcher, harking to the tribe’s matrilineal heritage.

“With this exhibition, we wanted to bring Evoke to [India and] Kaash. The store opened in 2021, and Kaash was born in 2022. And it all started with Yoruba chairs,” says Sridhar. “My mother wanted a pair for our home in Bengaluru. So, I was tracking a collection of these, but instead of getting them for the house, we ended up deciding to open a store [with interior designer Leonora Stathakis].” The response so far has been overwhelming, he says, “with people calling from all over the country to acquire the Yoruba chairs and terracotta Zulu pots”.

Pushing the craft collectible

The show is curated by Sridhar and Stathakis. “This is a decor show, with crafts from a different geographical location. We wanted to highlight the continuity of tradition,” says Sridhar, adding, “We want to build a commercial aspect around craft. It is an appreciating product. We call it craft collectible.”

Sridhar Poddar and Manju Sara Rajan

At Kaash, which is also a production platform, collaborations take place between designers and artisans — identifying new forms and experimenting with new materials. But Vandana and Sridhar are clear that while they like to encourage traditional art forms, they don’t work with antiques. The charpoy suspended from the wall, made with Kuba textile from Congo, is a good entry point into their curatorial premise — and what drew actor Sonam Kapoor Ahuja to them. An ode to the traditional woven bed, it gets a contemporary twist as a ballam bench [with legs inspired by ballam, the Indian exercise club]. The charpoy has pride of place in Ahuja’s home office.

Ilala palm fibre baskets from Zimbabwe

Maasai necklace from northern Tanzania

Evoke is a popular stop with moneyed Indian travellers. British Indian artist Anish Kapoor was impressed by their Yoruba chairs, while interior designer Vinita Chaitanya, who designed Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s house in Mumbai, is a frequent visitor. “Social media fosters access to different cultures, inspiring people to have multi-cultural pieces at home,” says Sridhar, who sources the pieces from fairs, craft communities and through his travels. Ironically, however, he says they “still don’t have a Yoruba chair at home”.

Three in focus

Vandana, Sridhar and Manju Sara Rajan, co-founder of Kaash Foundation, choose their favourite:

Bamoun chief necklace: The ancient bronze alloy necklace from Cameroon symbolises wealth and prestige among the Bamoun tribe. The slender design with buffalo motifs, representing strength and resilience, has been made using the lost wax technique. “I find it akin to a prabhavali, the brass arch that frames the deity in South Indian temples,” says Vandana. “It gives the impression of a halo around the deity.”

Asami Nagashima Sarabhai’s blue textile screen: “The African objects in the room — from the beaded chair to the crown — have a strong presence, but this work softens the show,” notes Rajan. Sarabhai, the founder of Rasai, a multidisciplinary textile-based label, made the textile work after seeing the blue Yoruba chair. It features architectural elements of Kaash, the African objects and her own brand.

Constellation vase: Rendered in bidri, the silver inlay on zinc and copper alloy, oxidised with black clay, is a stunning piece that draws from the constellations in the night sky. “It’s interesting that when people see it, they feel it’s very African,” says Sridhar. “I love how the craft of bidri has been contemporised. This piece speaks to the other objects in the room.”

The exhibition is on till November 17 at Kaash.

The Bengaluru-based journalist writes on art, culture, health and social welfare.

It was a simple Hornby model train set, and the track formations he could make with it, that sparked Charles Correa’s interest in architecture as a child. This is one of the first things we discover at ‘Conversations with Charles Correa: A Critical Review on Six Decades of Practice’, held last month in Mumbai, when author Mustansir Dalvi launched the first biography on the visionary modernist architect. The two-day conference, in its third edition, had scholars and professionals discussing different facets of his work, ranging from his ideas on urbanism to his writings on cities. And, of course, his buildings — from Correa’s Gandhi Ashram, which visual artist Kaiwan Shaban once referred to as “one of the finest examples of humility in architecture”, to the multiplicity of Jawahar Kala Kendra.

Architect Charles Correa

Correa didn’t see architecture as just designing modern buildings. He wanted his work to bring about positive change. “He was very much a modernist, not just stylistically, but because he believed modernism helped one uncover what was actually required,” recalls his daughter, architect Nondita Correa Mehrotra. “So, there was no style attached to it, but it allowed everyone to have a place in society; unlike traditionalism which is guided by a series of unknown rules and regulations.”

Rural folk migrating to metropolises, for instance, was a focus for Correa. “He always stressed how we can’t turn them back, and one of his favourite examples was the BEST buses in Bombay being an equaliser — it brings together everyone from the upper castes to the Dalits under the same roof. This mode of public transport can very quickly undo centuries of caste thinking,” says Mehrotra.

Boyce House
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy Charles Correa Foundation

Hudco housing
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy Charles Correa Foundation

The Magazine asked a few experts who spoke at the event, or have been admirers of his work, to share why the architect is relevant today, and what Generation Now can learn from him.

Ranjit Hoskote

Poet and cultural theorist

“Charles, for me, was many things beyond an architect — a thinker, a curator, an urban designer — someone who had a much larger social vision and commitment, bringing in a new spirit of congregation. He continues to be relevant for architects today. He saw an architect as a part of the larger plan to build a new nation. It’s important for young architects to not see themselves as specialists, who simply do what corporate clients ask of them,” Hoskote emphasises. “‘What’s the common good, what kind of future is optimal?’ These are the questions they should ask, especially between the current climate crises and runaway urbanisation. Charles always stressed how a building is part of a precinct, which is part of a neighbourhood, which is part of a city, and those relationships need to be maintained through the detailing and scale. The lack of planning, attention to individuals and community space due to the rapid pace of urbanisation saddened him.”

Ranjit Hoskote
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

Of note: “The Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur is responsive to the nature of the site, and becomes a labyrinth of surprises through a series of deflections. The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune brings together things that were important to him as a student [erasing the distinction between the arts and the sciences]. He embodies that in his choices of materials and motifs.”

Jawahar Kala Kendra
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy Charles Correa Foundation

Rajnish Wattas

Former principal of Chandigarh College of Architecture

Wattas, who has penned a large number of writings on Correa, recalls inviting him for lectures at the university. “He was a star speaker, and we’d have a rush of students who’d come to hear him talk,” he reminisces. “He triggered new ways of architectural thinking in the context of India, many parts of which were shaped after Independence by architects from overseas such as Le Corbusier for Chandigarh and Louis Kahn in Ahmedabad. Charles imbibed a lot from Corbusier, but not with blinkers — instead inventing and contextualising modernity to the India sensibility and climatic conditions. He emphasised on courtyards and open-to-sky dwellings instead of towering blocks. Even in Kanchanjunga, you’ll find large terraces within a high rise.”

Rajnish Wattas
| Photo Credit:
Akhilesh Kumar

Wattas bemoans the urban skyline in the country now, mere “C-grade versions of Hong Kong or the Middle East. There is no echo of our art and culture, or relevance to the topography. It’s not that Charles was against modern materials like glass — he thought it beautiful, bringing in light and helping blend the inside with the outdoors. The issue was the creativity of its usage”.

Of note: “Jeevan Bharti, a two-wing, 98-metre-long pergola in Connaught Place in New Delhi has a dizzying complex network of glass grids with an earthy Indian exposed brick form alongside it.”

Jeevan Bharti
| Photo Credit:
Sandeep Saxena

Ashiesh Shah

Architect

There’s always something to take away from Correa’s designs, believes Shah, whose first memory of the late architect was the awe he felt seeing the high-rise Kanchanjunga being built. “We’d never seen such a sculptural structure come up so quickly in South Bombay,” he recalls. “Growing up in the ’90s, we all studied his work. But that was a very different era; architecture was not the glamorous entity that it’s become today. India was also in a different position: we were reeling from a recession. If you were building anything, it needed to have a strong purpose, and Charles had very strong thoughts on urban planning.”

Ashiesh Shah
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement

Of note: “Buildings like Kanchanjunga are a lesson in energy conservation today. There was no air conditioning back then, and Correa was building for the environment [with double-height spaces, terraces, and plenty of cross-ventilation]. So there’s a lesson we can carry with us today.”

Kanchanjunga
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy Charles Correa Foundation

Kanchanjunga
| Photo Credit:
Credit Charles Correa

The writer and creative consultant is based in Mumbai.