Goa Decor

Daatê - The stone grinder   Not only common in Goan households a few decades back, this handmade stone grinder was in use for the past many generations till milling operations/chakkis began during the 19th century. Most Indian homes including those in Goa used this traditional grinding method to make flour of different cereals and grains. In Goa, some remote villages along the border, practice this method of making flour till date. The process involves rotating the stones in circles which required a lot of strength and energy. Women of the house would usually practice this.   Activities like grinding stones for flours, pulling up water from the wells, grinding masalas/coconut/batter in rolling or rotating stone, use of mortar and pestle for making flour, batter etc kept people of the previous generations automatically fit and strong. I discovered a number of such grinding stones buried around the periphery of our ancestral house at Quepem, some of them, more than 200years old....

Roteção - The bamboo cane weaving technique of the Portuguese Era. Rotesão was a traditional method used during the Portuguese era in Goa which involved hand weaving bamboo cane strips into wooden frames of different types of furniture, especially chairs.  Most old Goan homes had furniture with hand-woven strips of cane which, in the later years, were replaced by plastic/nylon. The most common weave was hole-to-hole hand chair caning, in which the wooden frames had holes along the periphery for the cane strips to be weaved neatly by hand.   The traditional hand caning weave used has a very distinctive and common series of octagonal holes in the pattern when completed. Although there are a number of cane patterns and designs, this seven-step method has proved to be the most durable and longest-lasting of the various hole or lace caning patterns developed over several centuries. The average lifespan of this chair seat pattern is 25 years, which can easily be achieved with good c...

 A TRIBUTE TO THE LEGENDS - EVOLUTION OF THE CRICKET BAT Cricket has fascinated me since my childhood. From playing 'one bounce' to underarm, with a tennis ball or rarely, a season ball, cricket is one of the sports that kept me occupied as a kid. I recollect playing the role of a fielder incessantly, occasionally a bowler but seldom that of a batswoman, with my brother, immediate neighbours and some close friends forming the teams. Furthermore, it is indeed nostalgic to recall the  time I spent as a kid amidst my siblings, cousins and elders watching the most memorable  1983 World Cup cricket series on a monochrome television at my maternal  grandparents' house. Since then, the passion has grown so much that I have  rarely missed watching any important cricket match in which the Indian Cricket  Team participated. A copy of a bat signed by 1983 World Cup winning team - India (Collection from my childhood) While we were  in London  on vacation a fe...

THE PAO BASKET It was my long cherished dream to revive some old Goan lifestyle accessories to the extent that they can suit modern ways of life. My fascination for antiques made me collect many such items from my ancestral Goan homes. Some of these were tethered and in a worn out condition whereas some were very much intact.  Thus, I am very fortunate enough to possess this collection of beauties of the past used by our forefathers a couple of generations back. Our Vintage Goan Wooden Tableware is named after this often neglected, simple yet beautiful flower, sadafuli. Presenting a variety of handcrafted wooden vintage Goan tableware to revive some of the lost traditions of native Goans.  Some of the items from our series were used directly to serve, whereas a few others for mixing, kneading etc.  Though most of the utensils used in Goa were made up of brass, copper, certain alloys and clay, there were a few wooden items which we are reviving through our ‘Sadafuli Series...

                                                                             SUKHASANA Enhancing Your Meditation Practice with the Sukhasana Comfort Seat Introduction: In this blog post, I want to share my personal journey of discovering the importance of personal space and comfort during prayer, pranayama, chanting, or meditation. Over the years, I have developed a routine of spending time alone each day, connecting within. In this process, I have created a special seat called the Sukhasana, designed to enhance the experience of these practices. Let's explore the story behind its creation and the elements that make it unique. "The first Sukhasana" Creating the Perfect Seat: As I delved deeper into my practices, I felt the need for a dedicated seat that would offer both comfort and proper postur...