Fit For Kings

Homing In with
                             ________________ SOUMYA ARYA

MOHINI MAHAL: The Talera home in the heart of Pune
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MohiniI Mahal is not just a house in Pune — it’s a landmark. It is impossible to miss the majestic and imposing white mansion with sprawling lawns surrounding it, as you drive past the Coyaji Road. Exuding both an aura of mystery and royalty, it is home to one of the most distinguished families of the city — the Taleras.
Built in 1923 by a British architect, the palatial house originally belonged to a Parsi gentleman, Dinshaw Adenwalla but fell into disuse after his death. Years later, when Kanhaiyalal Talera bought the premises on his wife’s insistence, the place was in shambles with chipped paint, crumbling ceilings and five feet high grass. However his wife Mohini’s belief in its potential as an ideal home for their large family combined with the expertise of ace architect and designer Hafeez Contractor soon infused both soul and beauty into the house, making it one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring houses in the country today.

One of the daughters-in-law of the house, Varsha Talera explains: ‘‘Care was taken to ensure that the Victorian look and ambience of the place was retained while restoring it.’’ For this purpose, distinct features like etched glass doors, intricately carved ceilings and Italian tiled flooring were all retained and just touched upon during the restoration process that lasted about a year.

With a built-up area of about 11,000 square feet the house has four bedrooms, a massive drawing and dining area and seven levels of terraces courtesy the varying heights of the ceilings of all the rooms. A long corridor runs all across the house and is accessible from all the rooms. Dotted with period furniture, a huge brass-rimmed mirror at one end especially brought from Calcutta and a seating arrangement for visitors, the corridor which also doubles up as a lobby has an enchanting old world romance to it. The living room again seems to take one back in time, with its high ceilings, medieval styled chandeliers, a collection of silver, jade, ivory and onyx artefacts and elegantly upholstered sofas. On the other side is the dining hall with its huge wooden dining table, the only piece of furniture that came with the house. ‘‘Dining on this is a beautiful experience, finding a table cloth this size is not,’’ laughs Varsha, who has now resigned herself to buying curtain fabric instead and getting it stitched into a table cloth to cover the long and antique table.

The elder daughter-in-law Neha’s room done up in shades of gold and cream continues the regal ambience of the place while a central courtyard completes the colonial design of the house. The kitchen is a mix of the old and the new with the cooking area situated on the ground, though granite has now replaced the stone flooring.

If the interiors are breathtaking, so are the acres of well-manicured lawns that run around the house. Lotus ponds, bamboo groves and a small stage at the far end all combine to make these lawns the ideal entertaining area for the Taleras. A whole line of outhouses stand near the stables and kennels, making the place seem more and more like your picture perfect dream house.

What, however, gives it a feeling of a home is the warmth of its occupants. Untouched by the grandeur that is evident in every square inch of the place, the Taleras, despite their stature come across as simple and down-to-earth people for whom the place is really nothing more than their own home. ‘‘Once you live here you do not tend to see it as something huge or grand. It functions just like any other house does, with perhaps just more staff than others have due to its sheer size,’’ says Varsha who gives full credit to her mother-in-law for her foresight and vision in making the decision to procure Mohini Mahal in 1988. ‘‘The house had been deserted for so long that not only did it have a neglected look but had even gained the reputation of being a haunted house! But my mother-in-law fell in love with it the minute she saw it. Unfortunately though, she lived here only for about a year, succumbing to cancer soon after we moved in,’’ reveals Varsha.

But bearing her name, Mohini Mahal today stands proud as an architectural masterpiece, beautifully blending opulence with homeliness, grandeur with warmth and converting a veritable palace into a comfortable abode for the close-knit Talera family.

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