Lantana Furniture : A Win-Win-Win Deal !

We were just settling down in Bangalore and we soon realized that our hall was totally empty. There were two chairs for visitors, but one of it was broken and the other just about to give up. There was a mat (Kerala "paaya" mat) that took on different role depending on the timing and the context. It was used as a replacement for sofa set, dining table and sometimes even bed ! Well, if it had life it too would have complained about job satisfaction !!

So the hunt began - our first aim was to get a decent sofa set. The main objectives were defined and revolved around.

1) Get a cheap and decent one : There was no point purchasing a costly set unless it is your own house. Hence the hunt for a cheap one but decent one. This was a difficult combination !
2) Easily Movable
3) Re-usable : When purchasing a proper set at a later point of time, this should be reusable.

So, with our objectives defined, we started visiting different furniture shops. For some reason, the cheapest we could find was one for Rs. 30000 and these were all the "spongy" types. We also visited a cane furniture shop and they quoted around Rs. 70K for good looking ones !! Something was wrong with this city ! And then internet stepped in ...

After doing some good research on this subject, I finally zeroed in on Lantana furniture that was being tried out as an output of research by ATree. The products and pictures looked impressive. The cost - doubly impressive !! For a set of 1 three seater chair + 2 single seater chair and a coffee table, the cost quoted was Rs. 2000/- only !!! Cannot believe right ! Even we couldnt and so we set out to check it out ourselves. The research office was situated in Hebbal and it was a long drive from Marathalli to Hebbal. After some wrong turns and tense situations, we finally managed to locate the building. The products on offer were much more that what was available in the net, but the price was the same. After learning a bit more about Lantana and the furnitures, we placed an order. Well, just like the US consulate, there was a waiting period here also and it was for more than a month. But that was not an issue for us !!

After nearly 2 months, we finally got it delivered last week. Though the dimensions and shapes are not the perfect ones, it definitely is usable and much more worth than its price ! So it was a win situation for me. Now, you must be wondering why I had put "win-win-win". For that you need to know the background of Lantana.

Lantana is a forest weed that destroys the forest vegetation and looks more like cane. It is considered to be termite resistant and can be used to make furnitures similar to cane. From the net, I got to know that ATree has been training the tribals to make furniture out of this weed so as to improve their livelihood and at the same time to remove the weed out of the forest. So indirectly, by purchasing this furniture, I have contributed to the preservation of the fragile ecosystem and also helped in improving the livelihood of the tribals. So thats a Win-Win-Win situation :-))