House tour: My parents' home in Mangalore

I am just back from a long visit to Mangalore, where Bernard and I have our roots. Mangalore boasts of an interesting architectural blend of the old and the new. Old colonial houses stand proud and stately alongside high rise apartments and commercial complexes.The colonial influence is evident everywhere. Mangaloreans love Western music, and you shouldn't be surprised if you come across pianos in our living rooms.Most homes always have a few antique pieces lovingly handed down over generations.



My parents too have inherited their share of antiques. Their decor is an eclectic combination of the old and the new, interspersed with finds from local art galleries, garage sales and trips abroad, and even trips to attics of their old family homes. My mother is an avid collector of blue pottery, bells, brass utensils and ceramics. She loves old wooden antiques, and if she can't have the real thing, likes to recreate them. My father, always a sport, willingly gets them redone, and it's always great to see the outcome!The garden is a joint effort aided by my mother's designing prowess, and father's green thumb. Come, have a look.




Mangalore tiles on the roof.


An old wooden bench in the verandah where the family likes to spend quiet evenings.


An old wooden treasure chest, with a brass n glass decorative lantern


A recreated treasure chest. The brass embellishments were added later.


The piano which I learnt my Beethoven and Bach pieces on.



A painting "found" at a garage sale in Bangalore hangs above the wooden chest.



The Indian style sofa set has been with us ever since we were kids. It has been reupholstered several times, sometimes when us kids stained it up badly, or sometimes for a special occasion. My wedding was one such.


My mother's bell and blue pottery collection displayed on a Kashmiri walnut tea trolley.


A close-up.


Frehly-cut anthoreums grown by my dad are always found in this house.


An old clock that belonged to my mother's side of the family. She faithfully winds it everyday.





A wrought iron corner in the passage that leads to the bedroom. A picture of Our Lady of Fatima hangs over the entrance to the bedrooms.


One of the bedrooms.




A sideboard with antique handles is accentuated by a traditional hand woven carpet from Fabindia and a painting by a local Mangalorean artist.


Brass vessels and an old mask



An antique cupboard that belonged to my maternal grandparents.



The dining area


Antique brass vessels that belonged to my paternal grandparents atop the kitchen shelves on one side...


...and traditional Mangalorean pickle jars on the other.


The garden as viewed from the dining window.

:) The next time I go down to Mangalore, I'll try to bring you the interiors of a traditional Colonial house (like this one).