In an amazing turn of events, the humble hand-woven bed or charpoy that was ubiquitous in Indian households just a decade or so ago, is grabbing eye-balls aplenty online. We are of course talking about the humble khatiya. The reason is that a man in Australia has put it on sale and the reactions have been spectacular. An Australian who hails from Sydney is selling the charpoy at a price that has left many shocked and awed. The advertised price of the bed is A$990!
As with all curiosities, this one too has a tale behind it. It turns out, as per sbs.com.uk website, Daniel Bloore first noticed these beds while on his visit to India in 2010. Speaking to the SBS website, Daniel said he found the bed so comfortable that he decided to make one for himself in Sydney. Yes, he makes it all by himself! The 44-year old also said that he uses a 4-inch foam mattress on it and had been sleeping on the hand-woven bed for about one-and-a-half years now.
Soon after that he made another one on demand for an impressed friend and soon enough his entrepreneurial instincts kicked-in and he decided to make charpoys for sale. However, even as the business is not doing as expected, Daniel is getting a lot of calls from curious people.
He is expecting a turnaround in fortunes though. “I dropped a flyer at an Indian grocery shop some six months ago and since then, the response has been overwhelming,” he was quoted as saying by SBS Punjabi.
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
— Kanchan Ray (@kanchanray) October 6, 2017
Daniel further said that it takes lot of work to make these beds.“The timber and the rope cost almost half of the price and then it takes many hours to make the frame,” he was further quoted as saying by the website while pointing out that it takes almost a week to make a bed each, the website indicated.
Here are some of tweets
To keep Indian sanctity of #Charpoy intact,wish if Australian Indian’s only cud mfg & sell it.If not possible for them, discuss & order me.
— Pankaj (@parpalpkj) October 6, 2017
While we r busy in following Western culture, Quietly world is following us.#charpoy pic.twitter.com/yC0La536K4
— Amit Patel (@im_amitptl) October 6, 2017
