The carving on the wooden frame looks beautifully imperfect, bearing the distinct imprint of craftsmanship. What has stood as a part of a door in the past, continues to be a ‘custodian’, but with a twist. Adorning the entrance of Indemoderne and capturing a slice of the cosmopolitan Park Street in its mirror, it sums up the ethos of the eclectic “bootstrapped home furnishing start-up with an omnichannel strategy”. India modern. Helming the gorgeous store are two equally cosmopolitan sisters — Gitanjali Satpathy and Brinda Chugani, Kolkata girls, who have been away for years, are now back in the city and answering the call of their passion. The Telegraph chats with the co-founders about their venture.
The store looks lovely. What’s the ethos?
Brinda: When Geetu (Gitanjali) and I started talking about this business, we didn’t want to bring the same sensibility that Kolkatans have been exposed to. Frankly, it wasn’t just about Kolkata. Kolkata is the initial impetus. When you start a business, it has to work in that micro area first. We have travelled the world. She has worked in this area. I have worked in corporate and we have travelled a lot and we both love home decor and we said why not bring what we know and like to Kolkata. While we like traditional things, we didn’t want to bring the same old traditional stuff to Kolkata or anywhere. We both have different sensibilities but we have a certain common foundation, which is that we like the mix of old and new. This was a conscious effort at bringing together the traditional with the contemporary and doing a blend.
When did you start work?
Brinda: We started talking about it in December 2020. I was working then and my job (communications and marketing) entailed a lot of travel and the pandemic happened when you had to sit at home.... Of course I left for this, but the pandemic really shook up people’s lives.
Gitanjali chooses this unit as something which personifies her taste. “The old and the modern together,” she smiles.
The sisters love this piece. A cabinet made of bone inlay. “We call it The Zebra collection. This has a contemporary look and feel that we love; base of iron and a sheet of Italian marble on top,” says Brinda. The commissioned “antiqued mirror” with a panther can make any wall come alive.
This has become quite the mirror on Park Street, with passers-by checking themselves out! Along with the incredible chandelier, this is one of our favourite corners in the store.
For Brinda, this cabinet defines who she is. “It’s militaristic in its feel... iron and glass... it’s got a starkness to it that I love,” she says.
The pieces are statement and stunning...
Gitanjali: Every piece is a punctuation. So, you can enhance your home with several pieces. We believe India is at the cusp of a design revolution... Indians have become more house proud than ever before. An offshoot of the pandemic is that the home has become the hub of all activities. Families are taking more pride and interest in their homes. This translates into investment and expenditure to make the home not only a more unique and comfortable space, but to turn it into a key place of entertainment and enjoyment. We are bringing in Indian sensibility and craftsmanship but through modern design. That’s why we say ‘we have 100 ways of improving your home’. We are not trying to bring colonial back to Kolkata.
Brinda: We are aiming at enhancing our Indian craftsmanship and skill in wood, metal, glass, bone inlay and rendering it a modern twist. The idea is to create value for everyone including the workers in the value chain. And, it doesn’t have to look like something that was made eons ago. It is about giving our artisanship a contemporary look and feel that will bring to life everything that India stands for today: a deep and ancient civilisation which has developed into a global... relevant... and influential participant on the world stage.
What are your individual tastes like?
Brinda: Geetu has an eye for classic beauty. I like minimal, distressed, hard metal....
Pictures: Pabitra Das