It’s an enchanting entrance covered with bougainvillea blooms that leads to a handkerchief-sized garden with a small lotus pond. The darting fish, the still waters and lush greenery have a calming effect on anyone who steps in here. This isn’t any regular house but Veer Munshi’s labour of love. The artist has dedicated two years to designing and building his dream home.

“Every space says something to you and it’s up to you to make something of it,” says the Kashmiri artist who is famous for transforming his experiences as an exiled refugee into coveted artworks. “From the walls to the interiors, I wanted to do everything myself,” says Munshi. He even designed the staircase railings and most of the furniture himself.

He’s created spectacular spaces in his two-and-a-half storey house in Gurgaon that stands on 248 square yards. The ground floor has the living area, two bedrooms, a guest room and a kitchen, many of which open into a small garden at the back of the house. “My personal space had to be airy with a touch of green,” says Munshi, who lives here with his  wife.

The living room walls are a highlight by themselves what with their brick finish. Munshi has used a combination of the subtle white-gray paint for some walls while keeping the natural brick colour for the rest. As can be expected, there’s art everywhere — by way of artworks by famous signatures and assorted handicrafts from around the world. Sitting side-by-side in the living room are an M.F. Husain painting and Munshi’s own canvas.

“I don’t like to overload spaces with furniture,” he says. So, just low-seating furniture will do along with a rubberwood centre-table that Munshi designed himself. A ceramic plate displayed on the table has a painting by artist Rekha Rodwittiya. On the other side of the room is a small, round dining table that too has been designed by Munshi.

You can take a man out of Kashmir, but you can never take Kashmir out of the man. Munshi’s home reflects nostalgia for his roots in the paintings, handicrafts and rugs that decorate it. “I keep going back to my native home in my head,” says Munshi.

A huge photograph of an abandoned home in the valley attracts attention in the dining room. Munshi says that the home belonged to a family of Kashmiri Pandits who were forced into exile. “I left Srinagar in 1990 and went back after 17 years to shoot this series of abandoned homes,” he says.

A huge jar in papier mâché — a traditional Kashmiri decorative art — stands in one corner of the living area. A miniature Kangri, a traditional Kashmiri fire-pot, and a samovar used by Kashmiris to prepare tea
sit pretty on a floor-standing wooden showcase.

Cut to the bedrooms and you spot hand-woven, Kashmiri woollen throws on the beds. The guest room has a namda or the traditional Kashmiri felted rug. “I’ve tried to include Kashmiri elements wherever I could,” says the artist.
Munshi has built his studio and office on the first floor. As you take the stairs you can’t help but notice a huge collection of hats from around the world displayed on the staircase wall. “The hats serve as a reminder of the different countries that I have travelled to over the years,” says Munshi.

His studio is located between two balconies that allow ample sunlight to filter into the well-ventilated room. It is filled with Munshi’s works, installations and gigantic canvases. The flooring combines high-shine Kota stone with Bikaneri tiles. “I wanted to add a little drama and colour to the space,” says Munshi.

A structural feature of the building — a huge vertical column — has been converted into an unusual element in the space. “I hated the column with a vengeance and felt that it was invading my space. So, I gave it a brick-tile finish and wrapped wooden shelves on it to make it appealing and useful,” says Munshi. Again, he chose to place small curios and artefacts from Kashmir on it.

Adjacent to the studio is Munshi’s rather basic office that’s enlivened by an unusual clock. “I used one of my photographs of the tabak maas or Kashmiri fried lamb ribs as the base to create a large wall clock,” he says.
Right at the top is a sprawling room that works as a studio apartment,  which he uses like a den. The high point of the room, however, is its domed ceiling. “Domes characterise Delhi and I wanted to weave this element into my home,” he says. He added a bright feel to the area with Jaisalmer yellow stone flooring.

The artist’s stamp is indelible and visible in every part of his home that he has so lovingly and painstakingly created.

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma