What is this thing with me and chairs?

Preeti Subhash

Maybe it started with Appachan’s easy chair. Wooden frame, fold-out leg rests, sling seat.

He’d sink into it every day with newspaper and we would wait our turn to be on ot like it was a joyride. Most memory of that chair has him on it or us kids competing to get onto it.

We have always been a house full of chairs. Most homes are. Now with home offices we have added work chairs to the mix too! Cane, wood, stools, chairs, ottomans. Over these years our dining table adopted three different kinds of chairs around it!

But I wanted my chair. One that I wouldn’t have to squeeze into a corner. I work from home most days. My workstation is big, and I spend hours there. Why not take my araam as seriously as my kaam I thought?

So, I designed one. Tall-backed, upholstered, perfect headrest, and an ottoman. Not minimalist and lean like like Appachan’s. But fleshy and space taking. Roshni was so shocked, why do you need such a big chair (Psst she got a similar one made after a few years)! This chair is my throne of sorts. Only I’m no Maharani (that title is Begum’s)! I eat, nap, chat with friends on this, and do all my research for work on it. Most importantly Begum loves sleeping on my lap as I sit and scroll.

This chair is a whole zone now. Ask the family.

Everyone sits on it when I’m out. Just like Appachan’s chair in that way!

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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.