Charm of the 'charpoy'

Hand-crafted

Can there be creativity and craftsmanship in the humble charpoy? At its simplest, it comprises just a frame of bamboos and the weaving of ropes. It can be found in the slums of Mumbai, jhuggies of Delhi, and many Indian villages.

In its trendy form, it is found in elegant homes. Sometimes it is made of rough materials, but in other cases, handsomely wrought and painted. Also called khat or khatiya, it is found in highway dhabas too. The craftsmen of Rajasthan have elevated it to a skillful craft, with elaborate frame and superior weaving. This indigenous piece of furniture is of multi-utility, ideal for a tropical country like India.

The charpoy has been used as a prop for some cheesy Hindi songs too. A reference to charpoy is found in Hobson Jobson, a glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases. Charpoy is derived from the Hindi charpai (four feet). The earliest reference to it is made by Ibn Battuta, the medieval traveller from Morocco, who travelled in India during the time of the Mughals.

He describes a charpoy in his Travels in Asia and Africa — 1325-1354 thus: “The beds in India are very light. A single man can carry one and every traveller should have his own bed, which his slave carries about on his head. The bed consists of four conical legs on which four staves are laid; between, they plait a sort of ribbon of silk or cotton. When you lie on it, you need nothing else to render the bed sufficiently elastic.”

And so, charpoys, like Indian travellers, have landed on many shores. In Malaysia, it was mainly the Sikhs who used them. A typically nostalgic memory, commonly held by many Malaysians, is of a burly Sikh security guard lying on his charpoy on the five foot path that runs along shopfronts. In the morning, he would either have a place to stand the charpoy up against the wall or he would carry it off.

The bed frame is traditionally made of wood and has four legs. The part of the bed you sleep on is made of rope that is woven. The modern day charpoy is made of many different types of materials, both natural and synthetic.

Classically, the frame of the charpoy was made out of very strong wood. The frame gives the charpoy strength and the woven top surface also adds to the strength of the charpoy. The diagonal weave seems to be a very common way of weaving a charpoy. However, there are other ways of weaving it too.

The charpoy is the most versatile and functional piece of furniture. This simple design is used to make many different pieces of furniture. Thus, we have them in several sizes and designs which, in turn, can be used as coffee tables, bed-side tables or as storage benches. They can be used all over the house due to their flexibility in design, and they can be made to suit any decor, both indoors and outdoors, in the parlour and patio.

The traditional Indian charpoy has evolved into a trendy piece of furniture with subtle changes. A traditional charpoy is woven with rope made of a particular plant. The rope can be harsh on the skin. But in some cases, the weaving is done with rolls of cotton strips and other softer materials. A modern cot is often made of plastic rope and can be more colourful.