The Spit water heater

The water heater powered by burning wood debris., it was a common contraption made in those days by buying a heavy base brass or copper large hundi and fix it inside the bathroom where the base of the vessel will be exposed from the outer wall of the bathroom through a chamber which will be laden with wood debris and daily in the morning the elderly would make an open spit fire and heat water in the vessel for bathing purpose as a result at single fill a family of 6 will be comfortably get heated water cost effectively,  also the heat stays much longer and the water gets an unique smoky aroma..

This one is still operational and the fixed copper pot inside is 60 years old..it also doubles as an incinerator to burn dry kitchen debris and house hold throwaways there by fuelling the water heater

Kandan and his Proud Wheels

Kandan's proud wheels: Mr Kandhan was an all round versatile worker in our farm from our grand fathers time, he was the same age as him and right from his early teens he was with us and he was there even before my father was born and he retired at 89 years due to partial loss of vision in one eye and most part of his life was spent in our farm and this cycle was gifted to him 65 years back by my grandfather, then it was a great prestige to own one, he used to recall that he was famous among all other workers from other farms as he was the only one who owned a bicycle for running errands and he used to proudly tell i work in  Village Presidents Periya Thottam...

Now he has retired and he left it one day at our farm telling that he would come back to ride it in all glory as he used to do but till date he hasn't made it...The cycle still awaits its owner in the same place where he left it lastly 7 years back..meanwhile many asked to sell it off as its of no use but we refused, "Word is a word" some decisions cant be made easily as it involves human emotions...

The Legendary 12 Subjects Gajalakshmi lamp

When I first saw this Gajalakshmi lamp in Kamakshi Paattis home it did not attract me so i ignored it went on with her to see her beautiful brass collection; bought some of the best from her & came back home, that afternoon phone was running out of juice so i kept it aside and dived in to my fathers book shelf & found an old book of interesting cover started turning it and an article instantly drew my attention it was about lamps, out of curiosity started to read it, there were repeated mentions about a particular Variant of Gajalakshmi lamp which was  called as 12 Subjects lamp which contained 12 different figures of gods, demi gods and mythical creatures also a super rare lamp, as i had sold many Gajalakshmi lamps myself checked the pictures from my archives and nothing matched the description but i remembered seeing similar somewhere ..Suddenly a lightning struck my mind that i could feebly recollect that Kamachi paatis dark Gajalakshmi lamp may have had similar features which was the one i ignored the same day morning., immediately i ran back to her place, on seeing me back she was confused & feared that i went back to return some articles..I assured her thats wasnt the reason and asked about the lamp, feeling relieved she told it was her grannys lamp now not in use due to a hole and gaining her permission i took a closer look and now the lamp seemed to mock me for ignoring her in the morning, believe me and thats the same 12 subjects lamp mentioned in that old book...Overwhelmed with joy I told i wanted it badly as its a rare lamp..she was happy to give it away without a word and thats how this beauty ended up @indiantiquest..

The twelve subjects are
1 Yazhli (which makes it so rare, as it makes this lamp a prosperity yielder and also a guardian of the home)
2 Gajalakshmis
4 Elephants
2 Annapakshi
1 garuda
2 Dhikku balas
.
As they always say "Antiques are destined to,  they choose their owner and its not the other way around" and i strongly believe in it as many such moments i had come across in my Quest so far..