In Mumbai, Reinforcing a Silent Spirit

Photo: Michael Rubenstein

I forgot to post my latest piece for the New York Times! This one is online and it ran in print in the International Herald Tribune a few weeks ago. The slideshow is quite beautiful.



Mumbai, India: Divya Thakur, the founder of Design Temple, a product, furniture and graphics firm based in Mumbai, lives in a three-bedroom three-bathroom apartment behind the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel. A year ago, the hotel and several other city landmarks were the targets of terrorist attacks. Some people living so close to such tragedy and violence may have considered moving, but Mumbai and its people are known for their hardy spirit. Ms. Thakur, 38, didn’t let it faze her.

“I gave my heart to my apartment the moment I saw it,” she said. “I didn’t even think about moving.”

But she did think about renovating. Shortly after the attack, Ms. Thakur began refurbishing the century-old space. Since she moved into it in 2003, the fifth-floor apartment had been doing double duty as her home and office. At the time, the 2,500-square-foot space was big enough to house her growing business and a small team of employees. She had partitioned it, creating a separate entrance for her work space, which was functional, but awkward. After five years, Ms. Thakur was desperate to have the whole space to herself.

Although Ms. Thakur’s designs are often modern and sometimes kitschy, she has an affinity for old buildings and artifacts. The apartment, currently valued at around the equivalent of $1 million (she would not say how much she paid for it originally), is on the top floor, and has 20-foot-tall angled ceilings, a bilevel layout due to an open attic and three balconies.

But, after years of neglect, the place has suffered from structural damage. She wanted to create a better flow and find a way to let in more light. Ms. Thakur’s father, an engineer, brought in people to help on an ad-hoc basis. “Usually you have a contractor, but we didn’t,” Ms. Thakur said. “It’s been hard to do it ourselves, but I prefer the flexibility it allows.” ...

Read the rest on the New York Times website here.