Mumbai is a city of contrasts – vibrant, colourful, full of smells, sounds and flavours. Permanent fixtures in its landscape are the street stalls selling bhelpuri, a popular snack sold at every corner. But behind these simple structures are stories of people and traditions that deserve attention. The Bombay Bhel Collection 2025 is a project that transforms an everyday, often overlooked object into an element of contemporary design, while giving voice to the artisans of one of the city’s oldest communities.
From the street to the living room
The authors and contributors to the collection – Shobha Pardeshi, Nanda Pardeshi, Indra Pardeshi and Sunil P ardeshi – are all from the Pardeshi community, which has been weaving bamboo and cane for generations. Along one of the streets of Grant Road, near the Tiny Miracles headquarters, the women of the community have been handcrafting distinctive geometric bhelpuri stands for years. Today, the collection takes their craft to a completely different context – from street stands to the interiors of homes and design galleries.
The Bombay Bhel Collection marks the debut of Tiny Cane Collective, which focuses on combining tradition with a modern aesthetic. The iconic stand became the inspiration for a series of furniture and accessories – including a bench and a lamp – available in two striking colours: pink and black. It is a reinterpretation of an everyday object that highlights the beauty of craftsmanship and the strength of the community behind its creation.
Craft as a form of resistance
Pardeshi is a community whose life has been lived on the streets of Mumbai for years. For many of its members, weaving is not only a way of making a living, but also part of their identity. However, the traditional handicraft market is increasingly being displaced by mass production, and streets that were once full of bamboo workshops now shine empty.
The creators of the collection asked themselves:
Must an improvement in a community’s economic conditions mean the loss of its cultural identity?
Rather than abandoning tradition, they decided to put it on a pedestal by creating premium objects that combine local craftsmanship with international design.
Transformation of craftsmen
The process of working on the collection took five months and required both creativity and determination. The older artisans – all over the age of 50 – had to learn new techniques, such as dyeing cane, cutting even sticks from uneven bamboo shoots and using power tools like a table saw, which made the cutting process ten times faster.
The result? Products with a modern character that retain the original geometry and strength of the stands from the streets of Mumbai. Each intersection of woven elements is thoughtfully designed so that the structure can withstand both the weight of a pot of snacks at a street stall and a designer lamp over a minimalist table.
A new dimension in everyday life
The Bombay Bhel Collection encourages us to look again at everyday objects and see beauty and history in them. The lamps and benches in the collection are not only functional but also symbolic – a story about people, their work and their culture.
Can an icon of the streets of Mumbai become a premium product? The creators of the collection do not give a clear answer, but instead pose the question of the value of craftsmanship, tradition and community. Each piece in the collection is not only a design addition to an interior, but also part of the history of a city where tradition and modernity meet at every corner.
See also: Recycling | Furniture | India
