Found Forgotten and Finally Home

Lakshya Mahalwal

Tucked away in a dusty terrace shed of my in-laws’ house, behind a pile of discarded stuff, with potlis of old clothes on it, I spotted them—a pair of tired, sun-faded armchairs. They were worn, almost forgotten, their rattan base, their wood dulled under years of grime. But something about their shape, their quiet elegance, made me pause.

I asked about them. “Oh those?” my father-in-law chuckled. “They’ve been here forever—probably over 65 years old. Nobody’s looked at them in decades.” I couldn’t stop thinking about those chairs.

So I brought them home. What followed was part restoration, part resurrection. I stripped back the barely there strings, polished the wood, and gave them new life without erasing their past.

Every scratch and curve whispered stories from another era—conversations held, books read, cups of chai shared on quiet afternoons. Now they sit in our living room—sturdy, beautiful, and full of character. A daily reminder that sometimes, the most soulful pieces are the ones with a history.

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Objects of Our Affection is a series exploring our connections to the furniture and objects that make our spaces home. Through stories of tables, chairs, and that odd-shaped thing only you love, we celebrate the inanimate pieces that hold memory and witness our lives.

If you'd like to contribute your own story to this series, we'd love to hear from you. Micro-essays, poems, reflections, and fragments welcome. Write to us at hellothadi@gmail.com. Word limit 400.