It was only in 1968, at age 11, when my father began arranging the tiny sheetlets, he amassed, into the leather-bound albums that have now been passed on to me. By 1972, he had a collected over 6,000 stamps that were distributed evenly in eight albums.

On one of his trips back to Srirangam around the 1930s, my grandfather picked up this hand-crafted metal box. He used it as a paan box, and furnished it with his requirements. Inside are two repurposed kumkum boxes, and the longer cylinders actually once held camera film reels. Each of these was for a different ingredient.

Brass crockery may be found in almost any South Asian household, but this particular pitcher, surahi and glass set were a part of my grandmother’s trousseau, along with other ornamental utensils such as decorative trays and silver cutlery.

I could not contain myself as I ran my hands over the print. Imperial Bank of India – Srinagar, Kashmir. The last set of cheques were dated from October till November 1947. I hold on to the cheque book like a medal of honour. I continue to tell the story of how it came into my possession and the significance of its last cheque entry.

In 1894, my great-grandfather married my great-grandmother, Radhika Sinha, originally from Lahore, and in the early 1900s, they went on a trip to Kashmir. It was here that they bought several ornate items that have built this coveted heirloom collection, including the silver Kangri engraved with the Kashmiri chinar.