The surface of the pendant is smooth, as is the case with Jade. This smoothness gives it an ethereal quality, and touching it, you do feel a sense of calm. You will see some textures and markings in the light, which have appeared over the years, as it was not stored properly. The gold etching on the pendant is delicate, and transports you to a different era.

Rajkumari Devi had embroidered this map for a school competition in the year 1948 when she was only 8 years old. Her school in Amhara, Bihar was visited by some British officials, who awarded her 10 annas for the extraordinary embroidery she had done, despite her young age.

In 1943, my grandmother and her younger sister got married to two brothers and subsequently, moved to Nairobi, Kenya with their husbands. In Gujarat, jhanjhar are considered to be an auspicious gift for new brides and it was on their wedding day, that my great-grandfather split this piece of jewellery between his two daughters, giving them each a single jhanjhar.

This alna is a ‘wooden rack’, which measuring 72 inches by 39 inches. It’s not surprising that I had trouble finding a non-Bengali word for an alna, since as I later discovered that it is one of the few pieces of Bengali furniture that has a purely Bengali etymology

Before partition, my naani, Shanti Devi belonged to Lahore, now in Pakistan. She married my grandfather, Gyan Chand on 16th March 1950 in one of Karnal’s districts which is now Panipat. This is when she was given this keyring or ‘challa’ – as we call it in Punjabi – as a part of her wedding trousseau by her mother.