Sentiments in Decor and A Project

I am a sentimental fool and I am quite happy being one :) I am very zealous and protective when it comes to family and love preserving memories......be it scraps of paper, frayed photographs, heirlooms and so much more. Every trip back to India, I insist on working on some project or the other related to the past! It keeps everyone including my parents on their toes :) 



My aim is someday to self publish a coffee table book about our family and gift it to my children.....maybe on their 18th birthday! It is going to require time, a lot of effort and research. I need to get information from a lot of people to make this happen!The book will be filled with pictures, letters and memoirs and my hope is that they will treasure it! 



I think along the same lines about my decor. I want our home to be a visual collage of our memories, our life and our roots! The anklets/payals  in the image below belonged to my Grandmother. Displaying these anklets at home make for an unconventional decor accessory and yet, I want to find a place for them somewhere in my house. I don't want them tucked away in a drawer! These anklets might never be used again !! The reason is simple.....they are simply too heavy to be worn unless you are a modern day princess:) I don't know how the ladies managed it in those days!! I wore them at my wedding, so I know just how much they weigh :) 



I would love to hear suggestions on how I could incorporate these anklets into my decor at home.  Do please write in your thoughts and ideas! It will be great to hear from you. 



For those of you interested in jewelry and history, you should visit Puja Bhargava's "Indian Jewellery Project". This venture aims to source the visual history of Indian jewelry through the personal archives of families. A fascinating initiative in my opinion. To know more, you can join them on Facebook!

Image: My Dream Canvas

Indian Jewellery Project

The Indian Jewellery Project is a fascinating project and a great initiative started by Lai - Silver Jewellery by Puja Bhargava Kamath.  When Puja wrote to me asking for a submission, I was happy to be a part of something which is so close to my heart. Documenting my family's history has been a passion for me. I am in the process of collecting family photographs and letters and thinking of ways to preserve them. 



This wonderful initiative is another way for all of us to contribute and preserve our roots. To quote Mid Day " Taking cue from the Indian Memory Project, Puja's Indian Jewellery Project aims to put together a visual history of Indian jewellery by sourcing images from personal archives of families."



This is my submission for the project and includes a bit of information about this image and the jewellery.



This image is of my (Grandmother) Nani, Mrs Kusum Sinha.  This photograph was taken in February1939 by my Grandfather Mr RK Sinha. My Grandfather was an an avid photographer.  He had a a dark room ("photo kamra") where he personally developed and printed his photographs at home. My Grandmother is wearing a bright wine red Benarsi tissue sari, Gold and Kundan matha patti, a 4 tiered Jhumka (earring) in gold and minakari and kundan kadas (bracelet). Both the kadas (bracelet) and earrings have been passed down to me. I was recently gifted these earrings by my mother at my brother's wedding :)



These earrings are now over 75 years old! 

Please visit the Indian Jewellery Project to know more.  This project would love new submissions. Do visit the page to know how you can contribute!



Image: Anu Varma and subject to Copyright