Owner8217;s pride

As a young, impressionable girl, she travelled with her dancer mother, imbibing art and diverse cultures 8212; at once intrigued and overawed. When she was not with her mother 8212; the well-known dancer Protima Gauri 8212; she hung out8217; with her father on the sets of the films he acted in, in India and abroad, awed by the make-believe world of cinema. The soliloquies and dialogues recited by him while he practised drew her toward drama as did the magnificent sets constructed for the scenes later responsible for her affinity for furniture and an understanding of its construction.

Pooja Bedi was never consciously introduced to visual art and theatre, she just grew up into it and began to informally enjoy it. Not a connoisseur, Pooja is fond of art and has a smattering of it. Responding instinctively to the works of some artists. quot;One thing I enjoy especially is a sense of humour displayed in paintings,quot; she says, speaking of a favourite Paresh Hazra where a king is surrounded with spoons symbolic of sycophancy.The obvious humour of this piece delights her. While her mother was setting up Nrityagram, the dance academy near Bangalore, she met some well-known Indian artists who donated their works for auctions to help create Protima8217;s dream.

Jatin Das, K K Hebbar, Shakti Maira, M F Husain, Anjolie Ela Menon were some of them. At that time, Pooja had the opportunity to acquaint herself with the artists and know her own reaction to various works, untutored and unstilted by norm. Maira8217;s abstract quot;philosophiesquot; she has collected over the years for their Buddhist overtones. A dramatic Husain was gifted to her by Protima and holds pride of place in her sitting room amidst candlestands designed by her, dried flowers in oversized vases and cream furniture. The first painting she ever bought was an Ambadas the start of a love for his works that never stopped. His paintings attract her, as they are rich with colour, texture and have a universal meaning. She has several works of his at her house and at the furnitureshowroom, which she runs along with husband Farhan. Though she sells all kinds of furniture, she loves antique furniture, the wood, the smell, the feel, the stories they tell. But furniture and art are also loves that form a special link to her mother as they were discovered together. And Pooja will tell another tale in a biography on her mother, being edited by her, to be released next month.