Antique allure

The balcony overlooks a thick, leafy row of gulmohar trees, concealing the fact that the house is situated amidst the hustle and bustle of crowded West Delhi. Artist Sanjay Bhattacharya’s second floor apartment in New Rajinder Nagar could easily be a residence in north Calcutta. White marble flooring, antique furniture, crystal chandeliers, terracotta wall art and mirrors set in carved, wooden frames all trumpet his Calcutta roots that go deep.

Bhattacharya, 56, and his wife Bulbul bought this spacious apartment in 1998. The couple, with their two sons,
Arijoy and Ranojay, and daughter, Sanjeeta, lived here for 14 years until Sanjeeta, 20, moved to Boston, US, in 2012 for a music course. Around then their eldest, Arijoy, 28, an artist, too shifted to another floor in the same building. So now the couple shares the flat with their tabla player younger son, Ranojay, 26.

When they moved into their three-bedroom home, Bhattacharya didn’t have any set ideas on how to do up the interiors. He got busy with his art and in his words on ‘making money’. It was left to his wife Bulbul, to take charge. She in turn had her husband’s love for simplicity, elegance and Calcutta in mind while dressing up their home.

As you enter the sprawling 1,800sqft apartment, a traditional rosewood bed with an intricately carved headboard grabs your attention in the living room. Strategically placed next to the balcony, the bed overlooks the greenery of the lane. This bright and airy space is Bhattacharya’s favourite spot and he spends time here enjoying the view and writing his poems. “The bed might look quaint, but it’s so peaceful to sit here,” says Bhattacharya.

The living room also has a comfortable two-seater sofa and an unmistakable Shyam Ahuja rug covering the marble floor. While the apartment’s flooring is pristine white marble, most rooms have cheerful rugs thrown on it. The walls are painted white though most rooms — the dining area, the bedrooms and the living room — have one accent wall that’s painted golden. For instance, the wall in the living room which has a large door leading to the balcony has been painted gold. “Gold accents enhance the white walls,” says Bulbul.

Bhattacharya is best known for his watercolours and oil paintings. But not a single work by him has been
displayed in his home. “Rather than my own paintings, the works of other artists should find a pride of place in my house,” he smiles. His living room bears testimony to his love for Bengal art and artists. Coveted signatures, Paresh Maity, Aparup Mukherjee and Swaraj Das adorn the walls. A tantric art painting by his elder son Arijoy also has pride of place in the room.

Bulbul has added a personal touch to the living room with candid photographs of their children when they were young. “They looked so innocent back then,” Bhattacharya laughs. He points out that he shot all the pictures on his Asahi Pentax camera.

The living room also has two identical work desks (complete with computers) that have been placed against opposite walls. While one is used by Ranojay to browse the Net, the other is used by the family accountant.

Mirrors and antique furniture —purchased from dealers in Delhi and Calcutta — fascinate Bulbul. One framed mirror is mounted on a wall in the drawing room while another large mirror with a heavily carved wooden frame stands in one corner of the dining area. Other parts of the house, too, have mirrors in all shapes and sizes.

The dining area, in between the living room and the couple’s bedroom, has a circular, six-seater mahogany table with a white marble top. A crystal chandelier from Lucknow cascades above it. One wall of the dining area has a
terracotta panel of a group of dancing girls. A huge TV has been mounted on a wall facing the dining table so they can watch their favourite shows while dining.

A rosewood cabinet here is filled with the couple’s collection of crystal, glassware and artefacts. Owls in a variety of sizes and materials like crystal, bamboo and wood dominate this cabinet. “Ranojay loves owls and so we buy them wherever we see them,” Bulbul says.

The works of Calcutta-based artist, Katayun Saklat, best known for her stained glass pieces also find a place in Bhatta-charya’s home. “We bought lampshades and a candle-stand from one of her exhibitions in Delhi,” says Bulbul.

Across the dining room is the couple’s bedroom with a four-poster bed with a crystal chandelier overhead. A large Burma teak cabinet dominates the room while the red drapes add colour to the space.

Ranojay occupies another bedroom right next to the living room. A tiny room next to the kitchen is used as a store for Bulbul’s antique furniture collection. “We have a farmhouse in Santiniketan and I have been collecting this furniture to set it up there,” she says.

Arijoy has a separate floor for himself on the upper ground floor (above the basement) in the same building. Bulbul has taken it upon herself to decorate that house too.

Arijoy’s living room is smartly done with an acoustic piano, a two-seater sofa and a black-and-white photograph by ace photographer Raghu Rai. The young artist’s bedroom also has a teak four-poster bed.

“I will give this flat my touch by using antique furniture here,” she says. Arijoy can count on his mother for classy results.

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma