Agastya begun in July 2022 in a modest workshop in Lucknow. I needed a material that could bend precisely for a project. Bamboo seemed
practical at first. Then I found cane. Thinner, more responsive, more willing.
I kept experimenting long after. I got cane hand-bent into frames. My rather small team and I tested the material’s limits. Early pieces were
ambitious for the skill we had at the time.
Some could not hold their weight or balance. Others broke in strong winds. They were large forms without stability. I realized that mastery would
come from working at the edge of the material’s truth and our own developing skill, then expanding both. Furniture landed in balance.
I brought in textile knowledge from years in fashion design where I had grown an affinity for maximalist brocades, amongst other weaves.
One day in early 2025, while burning cane to bend it, I charred it further. After a few attempts, it looked right. Dark. Permanent. I later discovered
its resemblance to the Japanese Yakisugi process, traditionally used on wood for durability and insect resistance —but, to my knowledge, never
on cane. That’s when it came together. Darkened cane. Brocade's depth. Brass accents now moving from branding into ornament.
These skills, gathered across disciplines, mediums and geographies, from schools in Kolkata to studies in the United Kingdom and work for global
labels, had been waiting. I had always favored function over flourish. But spaces that work without beauty feel hollow.
No shortcuts. No seasonal rush. Objects meant to settle with age. They balance European restraint and Indian craft. Furniture or sculptural
objects. They hold their place either way.