A Threshold Between Two Worlds
Words & Images by Pritha Mahanti
Magazine | Issue 03
A ubiquitous element in most Indian homes has been a strip of raised platform or doorsill that one has to step over in order to enter or leave a room. In Bengali, this threshold is called choukath, and its silent erasure from modern architecture is perhaps only felt when one accidentally stumbles upon it in an old house. In a world obsessed with the seamless experience afforded by contemporary house plans, the need to pause at the threshold seems almost redundant.
And yet, in this unobtrusive pause or the act of stepping over, lies a poignant metaphor of the transitions one goes through in the strangely ductile domestic sphere. Soumi was surprised when I first mentioned the absence of choukath in the new part of her house. For her, straddling two worlds in the same home, however, has been quite literal.
The old part of the house takes you by surprise with its sudden arches and corners. There is a wall that holds photographs of the departed—almost like a living memorial that guards personal history as it does the old architecture. Soumi is diligent in placing objects where they fit best. She keeps alive the spirit of the bygone with imprints of the present, here and there.
In an extended landing between two flights of stairs that lead to the terrace, the wooden framework of a once functioning armchair props up a set of pastel photo frames. This modern minimalist piece of décor amidst the excess of yesteryears creates an aesthetic of timelessness and familiarity that is uniquely utilitarian. Beyond these little surprises, there are also quietly recurring objects that flow around the house like reminders of the constants that one holds dear.
Soumi loves flowers and there is a vase to be found in every table top or corner, some with dried flowers, some with real ones and some holding fake ones with equal dignity. As one moves around the house between the old and the new, the eyes and feet adjust easily to the shifting patterns and textures. Almost like how being an extrovert and a homebody is an easy duality that Soumi inhabits.
As she showed me around the house, it was like witnessing firsthand the simplicity with which the past and the present flow into one another. The last remaining threshold stands humbly to let us move back and forth between what needs to be preserved and what we need to embrace.
Pritha Mahanti is a freelance writer, editor, and researcher interested in visual arts, popular culture, and politics. She is the co-founder and chief editor of Ptenopus, an online literary magazine centered on art. Her writings have been published in Cafe Dissensus, Madras Courier, Gulmohur Quarterly, LiveWire, Himal Southasian, Serendipity Arts, and Critical Collective.