Kitsch up!

Howdy Mumbo Jojos!

This is Master Blincca and I’ve got an über cool QUINK for you today...

As you already know, we’re here to suggest ways in which you can quirk up an ordinary Mumbai day...but what if you could make quirk tangible? What if you could bring it home or add it to your wardrobe? That’s where 28-yr-old Sneha ‘Tappu’ Raisoni’s store Tappu ki Dukaan comes in...

Sneha started the store in December 2009 after she quit her job of 5 years as a CA with an investment bank. “I wanted to do something creative with my life,” she says. Understandably! :D

Tappu ki Dukaan

Tee K Dee, as Sneha fondly calls it, is a store which stocks kitschy and fun items for home decor or as gifting options. So you have truck shaped photo frames(complete with tyres and HORN OK PLEASE), a film reel wine rack, an ashtray resembling the Indian style loo appropriately titled ‘Sandaas’(heehee!), serving trays made out of Absolut Vodka bottles and what not! It’s a haven for city kitsch like Mumbai cutting chai shot glasses, tees with the double decker BEST bus declaring ‘I love Mumbai’, and even chests with the BEST bus ticket pattern on them!

 

Clockwise: Film reel wine rack, Absolut serving trays, tiffin dabba CD rack,‘Sandaas’ and the truck photo frame

Graphic and pop art also score big on the store’s display with lap desks, laptop bags, lamps, clocks and bags hand painted or printed with iconic imagery of the country, Bollywood and western musicians. You can even personalize these items buy using your own (or your boyfriend’s: D) pictures!

Pop art clocks and lamp

What’s more is that all these items are from new-age Indian quirk and kitsch brands such as Happily Unmarried, Pop Goes the Art, Neil Dantas, Zero Three Seven, Chimbak and Fireflies. Says Sneha, “These people are incredibly talented and are always thinking out –of-the-box. They have the ability to look at an ordinary object of day-to-day life and transform it into something clever which functions as well.”

Tappu also has some HIGHLY unusual brands such as Haathi Chaap, whose items are made from elephant poo (no, it doesn’t smell!) and Mukul Goyal, whose silver stick figures serve as door stoppers, napkin holders and pen stands (refer pics)!

L to R: Mukul Goyal’s Door Stopper and Napkin Holder

T-shirts, bags, accessories, kitchenware, home decor, knick knacks, stationery, furniture...it’s all here. And you won’t believe the price range. Everything in the store is between Rs. 30 and 4000!

Tappu ki Dukaan is going strong and celebrated its first anniversary in December 2010 with a week- long special sale. “I have very loyal customers and they keep coming back with more and more friends. We may not have everything you need but you’ll want everything we have,” she says.

I’d rate that 11 on 10 on the quirk meter...wouldn’t you? (I’m hoping when Sneha sees this, she’ll gimme something for free :D)

So, that’s your fill for today guys...

Until next time, remember to QUIRK UP!

-Master Blincca

(All pictures courtesy Tappu ki Dukaan’s Facebook Page)

Check out Tappu ki Dukaan on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/tappukidukaan

Happily Unmarried: http://www.happliyunmarried.com

Pop Goes The Art: http://www.popgoestheart.com

Zero Three Seven: http://www.zerothreeseven.com

Neil Dantas: http://www.neildantas.com

Other stores stocking these brands: Loose Ends and Mozaic, Bandra. SoBo, Hughes Road. Bliss, Versova.