Cultural confluence

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The living area has an Egyptian theme; a small corner in the living room has been dedicated to Buddha with Buddha statues and ma

A plush green garden leads us to the entrance of designer Meera and Rohit Agarwal’s home in Gurgaon. The husband and wife team, who have been designing fusion wear for the last many years, have given their home too a mixed style. So, while few laughing Buddhas rest happily just outside the entrance, there’s a small face of Zeus as well. This is just the beginning, as more fusion wonders wait for us inside.

The house has a big common area on the ground floor that includes the main living area, a small bar arrangement and the dining area, all adorned with artefacts collected from around the world. The couple says that buying mementos for their home from all their tours has always been a top priority.
Meera says that she has always wanted to make her house an extension of their thoughts — a place where there’s warmth and love. The living area exudes this feeling in the best way. With gold shade curtains, planters in the corner and an Egyptian fireplace, the area is cozy and warm.
The two main walls are adorned by a large mirror and framed masks collected from Egypt. “Most of the major artefacts in the room have been added keeping an Egyptian theme in mind,” says Meera, as Rohit shares the story of the heavy fireplace that was brought alongwith two other heavy artefacts during one of their tours.
The other areas on the floor have been aesthetically separated from the living area by a cubical separator adorned with traditional artefacts. It extends to a small bar setup and finally leads to the main dining area adjoining a small garden.
Another interesting feature of the house is the area on the other side of the bar — it opens up to a small sitting arrangement — a shaft that was in shambles has been turned into this pleasant area apt for the morning mug of coffee.
“Till few years ago, with bird droppings and other things, this was one of the most neglected parts of our house. Just putting a glass ceiling with ventilation made it utilitarian,” says Rohit. Gradually, the area has also become one of the best places to showcase the couple’s mementos — bird houses from America, lamps from Morocco and lanterns from Rajasthan are some of the artefacts displayed here. Indeed a confluence of world cultures.