Project Comeback: We Start The Woodwork

The carpenters came on to site this week and we finally began the woodwork at Project Comeback.

Taking His Blessings:

As most of you know, in India no work begins without His blessings. So they came armed not only with their tools, but also ready for a small pooja before starting work. Jeetu laid out all his tools and lit some incense sticks.

He broke a coconut on the floor and sprinkled the coconut water all around the house for an auspicious beginning. They say the coconut symbolises our heads and, therefore,  our egos.  By breaking the coconut we let go of our egos and offer our humble selves to Him for his blessings. The incense purifies the air and the rising smoke symbolises our prayers reaching up to the heavens.

After folding his hands in prayer he distributed prasad to all present.

The plywood was already on site and Jeetu and his team started work in full swing after the prayers.

The Team:

It’s been a few years since I’ve been on site with my team and I’m really excited about working with them again. So let me introduce you to them.

This is Dharmesh bhai.

I first worked with him about 15 years back. It was the year 2001 and my first independent project. I was full of a lot of new ideas then, and not always sure of how to implement them. With Dharmesh bhai around, that was never a problem. He pretty much has a solution to every problem and I don’t think the words ‘no’ and ‘cannot’ are a part of his dictionary. Even today, I dare to try new things because I know he has my back.

Dharmesh bhai heads the entire team of contractors and the fact that all his people I worked with 15 years back are still with him 15 years later speaks for itself!

This is Jeetu.

On my first project, he was one of the carpenters in his father’s team. The client had selected the bed in this picture for their master bedroom.

I made these drawings and handed them over to Jeetu.

He worked on that bed, and made this.

The clients were thrilled that they got exactly what they had asked for and were amazed when they realised he had made the bed without ever seeing a photograph of it! (By the way, I took these photographs just a few days back. Does that bed look 15 years old?) He has worked on each one of my projects since then, and now, since the past few years, heads his own team of carpenters.

The Woodwork:

There will be more introductions as more agencies come on site. But for now, we have enthusiastically started the woodwork. The carpenters have wardrobe drawings for the master dressing room, guest room and Sport’s room.

Which reminds me, Sport did finally have his wish come true. He’s getting a bigger bedroom. That was the result of a lot of debate and discussion and in conclusion, this is his new bedroom plan.

So work has started on the wardrobes. The internal designs are done and we are working on the outer finishes. And I will get back to you with those soon.

Thank you, StockSnap, for the gorgeous featured image!