One afternoon while passing through the Dalal Street, after an official meeting, a store caught my attention and my curious self followed my instinct and opened the door of store that called itself Bombay Paperie. What I first discovered was beautiful colourful papers neatly stacked in piles and piles across a huge store and I immediately hopped in to check it out. Besides, a cheery colourful store bang opposite the hustle and bustle of Bombay Stock Exchange definitely made it all the more interesting.
A few minutes into the store and I was completely glued by the sheer beauty of the papers and more importantly its history. The paper at Paperie not any ordinary paper, its history dates back to the time of Emperor Jehangir. All the paper in the store is handmade and made ‘not from trees’ but cotton waste. The pictures displayed in the store giving a brief on how the paper in made by hands is quite fascinating. The cotton waste is soaked in water for days and then beaten slowly into pulp which is then made into sheets of paper with marvelous texture. Intriguing, art and environmental friendly.
Paperie had its inception with the noble cause of saving this age old tradition of making paper by restoring the paper-making center in Daulatabad (one of the last such centers left in India).
I never imagined that I could be so moved by paper.
The Paperie sells cards, notepads, paper lamps (can you imagine? and they’re beautiful), pen stand, flowers, sculptures, gift boxes, gift bags (all made from paper) and other paper baubles that totally hooked me for good one hour.
And I could not leave the store without buying myself one of the goodies from the store {I am not the one to give hand written cards, but had to buy something}, which indeed was difficult considering I loved pretty much everything there. I finally settled for this beautiful folder with handpaper envelopes and small block printed cards in pink and green.
After visiting the store I have tonnes of ideas for using this paper art on the walls of my room that I am planning to redecorate.
Ahhh, and right after this amazing discovery I headed off to grab some coffee at the Fort Starbucks bubbling with enthusiasm and new found love in paper (btw you ought to visit the Fort Starbucks, by far its the best I encountered among hundreds I visited on all my travels across the world).
