Relations reset~I
At this year’s 76th Republic Day celebration on 26 January, India invited the President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto to be the Chief Guest.
India’s humble ‘khatiya’ may have vanished from the Indian urban landscape, but it has found its moment in the sun on a foreign shore!
An Australian man has put the ‘khatiya’ on sale, describing it as an ‘extremely comfortable, traditional Indian daybed’ with a price tag of $990 (Rs. 50,000).
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Who would have thought that we would need a copyright on khatiya/charpoy.. we better file IP claims for Indian 'lota' asap. #charpoy pic.twitter.com/79tql92i1T
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— Kanchan Ray (@kanchanray) October 6, 2017
The advertisement is going viral on social media. The advertisement claims that the charpoy is ‘hand-woven’ using manila rope and can be customised as per the buyers’ specifications. It is made of maple timber and boasts of strong mortise and tenon joints.
Sydney resident Daniel Bloore, a manufacturer of beds, first saw the charpoy during his visit to India in 2010. Bloore says he dropped a pamphlet at an Indian grocery shop about six months ago and has been getting an overwhelming response ever since. “The timber and the rope cost almost half of the price and then it takes many hours to make the frame,” he told SBS Punjabi. It takes Bloore a week to make one bed.
In India, where the charpoy (also called manji) is available for a fraction of the price quoted in the pamphlet, the advertisement raised quite a few laughs.
“An Ozzie twist on the phrase “khatiya khadi kar di”? 😀 :D,” wrote one Anuradha Joshi @dranujoshi1 on Twitter.
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