Ek Bungala Bane Nyaara

This was my first visit to Bungalow 8,Mumbai avant-garde,fashion and design store near Radio Club in the hip Colaba district. Am writing this blog just two hours after returning from a guided tour of the three-storeyed store that told me multiple stories about Indian fashion,creativity in the country,why curating is is more about rejecting than about selecting and why ethnic neednt be a screaming adjective.

Maithili Ahluwalia,curator and founder of Bungalow 8 is my Facebook friend but I saw the model-like stunner dressed in a shibori red and white dress see the first picture with this blog for the first time. Her passion has seeped into every detail of Bungalow 8 which stocks clothes,accessories,a couple of select décor and interior pieces and beautiful precious by Jamini Ahluwalia who is Maithilis mother. Outside the store are children of the neighbours playing 8220;shame and shame8221; and giggling uncontrollably only as devil may care three-year-olds can. Inside you are transported into another India but not one that8217;s completely disconnected from the personality of the old staircase and architecture of the building outside.

The patina of time-worn interiors,rough hewn walls,thoughtfully chosen white and kota coloured tiles; one big square of a see-through glass flooring,its a big picture experience. Each storey in this three-storeyed store has a personality of its own,each sells curated wares with a distinct point of view,yet you know its one single home because of its design homogeneity. I just feel that whoever comes in to Bungalow 8 should feel there is no place like this in the world, says the husky voiced Maithili. She seems quite close to realising that dream.

See these images,they tell their tale.