Objects of my affection with architect Sonal Sancheti

Objects that hold memories and pieces bought instinctively is how she makes her own house a home too. “I collect things wherever I travel. Rahul is a contrast—he doesn’t like his home to be cluttered. So, we find a way to work things out in the middle.” There are pieces in her home that remind her of a certain time, a certain hobby and things that she resonates with.

She took us through some of her favourite ones.

Clay Creatures

I have always been interested in pottery, ever since I’ve been a teenager. But I just never found enough time for it. I was at this exhibition in Pune where I picked these up and I said to myself that I have to get back to my pottery after this. It was one of those bucket list things for before I reached the age of 50. So, these really prompted me to get back to the wheel and get back to pottery, which I used to do many years back.

These are done by a not so well-known artist, and he creates only animal sculptures. This is hand pottery, not wheel pottery, and it’s not glazed. They’re just lovely and bring me a lot of joy. And they got me connected back to pottery—I have my own pottery studio in my home now.

Jaganath Avataars

These are two avatars of Jagannath Ji, which is very rare. Usually, it’s a family—there’s this Jagannath Ji, his brother, the sister, and then what is called the Sudarshana Chakra. You can find these four things in every home in Odisha. I had gone to Odisha to give a talk and then I just took a journey to Raghurajpur. The place had just experienced floods, the artists there really didn’t have work and I thought I’ll just go there to see what they’re up to. It is a nice little town and an art village. I got these two for myself because I didn’t want all four of them, the artist told me that these are two avatars of the same God. So, it’s okay to have the two avatars in your house, otherwise, usually people keep the whole family.