So the editor says he wants more direct quotes and more about the man...here's what I put together before the 3'o clock deadline! This glass guy is then three articles in one man!
August 1947- catastrophic events overtake everyday lives. The Chaudhary family residing in Karachi has to leave at very short notice taking what it can, bringing along with them a camphor wood box. It was in the summer of ’64, that Kalidas Chaudhary, the youngest son, set out to sell the old box in the lanes of Nakkhas. Those were hard times for the family. Every possession no matter how dear was a saleable commodity- the old box was sold for 500 rupees to an old shopkeeper, who offered 800 rupees if Kalidas could bring another box of the same kind. A dumbstruck and excited Kalidas took the money back to his unbelieving mother, “You must have stolen the money, I don’t believe you!” After a little coaxing she accompanied him to the shopkeeper who explained the value of the box.
Encouraged by his success with the old box, Kalidas began to spend time in the lanes of Nakkhas and Chowk searching for other such goods. “Every Sunday I would walk the lanes and haggle with sellers for anything that caught my eye, a china cup, an old glass vase, lamps”, lifting a dusty oil lamp he explains how the servants of the Nawabs would sell broken lamps to corner shops and merchants in the area. His ability to spot something unique in a trove of old junk is what made Kalidas the man he is today. A chikan seller by trade, his hobby soon became a profitable passion and he began to visit the old aristocracy- Nawabs, Rajahs and Taluqdars. The families began to know and trust him as their “Kaanch Wallah”, the man who could repair their chandeliers or “Jhaad”, replace their “Fanoos” the glass lamps and whenever required help the nobility sell off some of their old glass ware and china, anonymity was assured.
“English merchants and representatives of Danish and Belgian chandelier companies used to visit the Nawabs of Lucknow with catalogues. These companies had special centers in Madras, Calcutta and Bombay”, explains the glass man of Lucknow. Green and turquoise chandeliers were a favorite with the Nawabs, which were made and delivered on special order. “I often go to the havelis of the Nawabs during Moharram when all the chandeliers need to be covered with black cloth, and then again on Eid when the chandeliers have to be sparkling clean”. His paan daan lies close by and he fixes himself a paan, “My collection of lamps has been my pride for many years, they call me Kaanch Wallah because of my obsession with Jhaad and Fanoos!” The fifty eight year old carefully examines one of his chandeliers, the white crystal drops need to be replaced. “Most of my customers today either come to have their chandeliers repaired or to pick up an occasional Fanoos, I also arrange for other glass items like hookah bases and china cups.” But it is now the “nouveau riche” who are hankering after these symbols of aristocracy.
Kalidas’s interactions with the royalty of Lucknow and surrounding areas lead to his becoming familiar with the ambience and traditional customs of the aristocracy. Today he is an authority on Awadh interiors and has decorated the sets of Umrao Jaan, Gadar, TV serials Phool aur Kaante and Jaan-e-Alam. Currently he is working on the Manisha Koirala starrer, “Anwar”. Sitting in his unassuming backyard he points out to the doorway, “This entire area was an old palace, the broken entrance there, elephants used to pass through it. It was called the Machli Darwaza, we have lived here since the partition days.” In his “office”, he has a poster of Rekha as Umrao Jaan, looking at the poster he says, “Look at the lamp in the picture, and the paan daan, I arranged those!” He fondly remembers recreating the ambience of old Lucknow in Bollywood movies, “I remember a time when Lucknow looked like that, the extravagance was real. The sparkling glass told a story, each chandelier has a history. It has seen and lit an era that is vanishing.” It is ironic that the old aristocratic chandelier finds itself adorning false ceilings in concrete jungles of India’s metropolitan cities.
In the express---
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=188511
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