indian Archives - Nikita Sheth

Most people, for their first online purchase, start with something small – a song from itunes or bidding on a t shirt from ebay.

But…not my mum.

Just 12 weeks after we had ibtroduced her to ‘online shopping’…..a truck arrived on our drive way. Delivering a TEMPLE DOOR from India. It had been sitting in quarantine for 8 weeks. It was so big, we had to horizontally lay it in the spare room.

Mum had bought the temple door in anticipation for the house she and dad were building. It would soon transform into our new front door.

I guess, that’s what you get for having a crazy artist as a mum. She never does anything half way and despises the ‘regular’.

We teased her – telling her that by punching digits into the computer she was actually using ‘real money’. Every time a truck pulled up in our street, poor dad, went white – hoping she had not bought a small hut from NIcaragua. Hey?! Anything is possible!

However…iwe all shut up… very quickly. As we watched the temple door placed as the front door in our new home – we were all gobsmacked. It looked absolutely AMAZING. Mum just sat there all smug…smiling and saying ‘I told you so’.

It adds character to our house. It is inherently ties us to our Indian heritage. I love the thought of the way that an old dormant temple door has travelled half way across the world and been revived into a fully functioning door. It has a renewed sense of life. The intricate carvings add visual interest to anyone approaching our house. No words do justice to our front door. It is a piece of art.

And…we have mum to thank.

(NB:- Just realised I have no proper images of the front door on this computer – watch this space…)

Something about temple doors resonates so deep within me – the combination of their connection with history, religion and culture. Symbolic carvings that tell a story. Colours so vivid that they contrast with the red earth and blue sky. Temple doors, their vigour and strength reflecting the spirituality that lay inside. Temple doors, guard the haven that lies inside, from the chaotic outside world.