During his days in Lahore, communal tension began rising in the wake of an imminent independence and possible partitioning of the land. To protect himself, Mian Baljit Singh bought this sword. But apart from that, I believe that it was also considered as a symbol of status and style.

When we first found them, I had no idea about the rug’s rich history, about the fact that they were gifts at such an important moment in my mother’s life. It was only when she began talking about them, caressing the rug’s threads, grazing her hands across the woven tapestry, that I realized that an object could mean so much to a person.

I never knew my nana, my maternal grandfather. Everything I know about him is through conversations with my mother. His name was Sri Ram Puri and he worked as an engineer with the royal families in Punjab and Rajasthan. This gramophone belonged to him.

At first, when I found it in a drawer in the house, I thought it was an old receipt. But as I unfolded it, I was stunned by the beauty of the paper. This was no old receipt, and when I held it out to my mother, she recognized it straightaway!  This is called ‘Sehra’ or a ‘Subhaag Sehra’ to be precise.

Traditional perfumers believe that an attar not stored in the kuppi was ‘essentially ruined’. The leather would absorb any extra moisture, allowing water to evaporate and only attar in its truest scent, to remain.