The traditional Indian bed, charpoy - once almost ubiquitous in India may have become a relic from the years gone by for the Indian, but the hand-woven natural fibre bed is trending on social media after an Aussie lifeline.
A Sydney man is manufacturing these hand woven ‘daybeds’ and selling them at a price that has left many dumbfounded.
It was in 2010 that Daniel Bloore first saw a charpoy while visiting India in search of a music teacher.
“I found it very comfortable,” he says. So much so that the 44-year-old Indophile aficionado decided to make one for himself in Sydney that he has been using for years.
Daniel Bloore Source: Supplied
“I use a four-inch foam mattress on it and I absolutely love it,” he says. Daniel says he has been sleeping on his hand-woven double bed for over a year-and-a-half now.
He says he made one for a friend and sold to him after he decided to make charpoys for sale.
Though the business isn’t really booming, but Daniel says he has been getting a lot of calls from a lot of curious people.
Source: Supplied
“I dropped a flyer at an Indian grocery shop some six months ago and since then, the response has been overwhelming,” he tells SBS Punjabi.
But at $990 apiece, the advertised price is generating as much discussion as the craze for the ‘Desi khatiya’ thousands of miles away from India.
“It’s a lot of work to make these beds,” he says. “The timber and the rope cost almost half of the price and then it takes many hours to make the frame.” Daniel says it takes up to a week to make each piece.
The charpoy flyer is trending on social media with many from India marvelling at their humble ‘khatiya’s thousand dollar transformation.
