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Jetsetting with: Prakalyam Gallery’s Veshali Visvanaath

SINGAPORE — When you’re passionate about something, you’ll find an outlet for it. Which is what Veshali Visvanaath did when she opened Prakalyam Gallery to share her love of Indian-colonial collectibles, even though she was already busy helping her husband with their restaurant (Muthu’s Curry — you might have heard of it).

Veshali Visvanaath travels frequently with her husband.

Veshali Visvanaath travels frequently with her husband.

SINGAPORE — When you’re passionate about something, you’ll find an outlet for it. Which is what Veshali Visvanaath did when she opened Prakalyam Gallery to share her love of Indian-colonial collectibles, even though she was already busy helping her husband with their restaurant (Muthu’s Curry — you might have heard of it).

Her travelling habits have also evolved to suit her hobby. Instead of jaunts to France, Switzerland, Japan and China, she makes frequent buying trips to different parts of India. “We could be travelling to many destinations and we just don’t get tired,” she said. “Everybody asks, ‘How did you manage to do all this in five days?’ but we do it back-to-back. We come back and we have another flight scheduled to leave immediately. Just unpack, pack, leave.”

Q: Tell us about the best travel experience you’ve had so far.

A: The best was a trip to India that we went on last year. Firstly, my husband and I were travelling together, so it was like a getaway. And we were doing what we love to do: Looking for antiques. Lastly, we were shopping for a reason — our house and Prakalyam coming up. It was wonderful!

Q: Are there any lesser-known destinations in India that you recommend?

A: The area I come from, called Chettinad, is very deep down south and you don’t have direct flight access, but people still travel there to see the huge mansions and beautiful temples. It is a must-see.

Q: What are the most difficult parts of shopping for antiques?

A: It’s the travelling. You have to travel up and down to find nice pieces. Next is identifying the antiques. There are places you can look for antiques, but you have to be careful. If you don’t know how to differentiate between a remake and an antique, it’s very easy to be misguided. You have to spot the right pieces. You might also miss them because they’re in such poor condition. The first thing to see in an antique is whether the piece calls out to you. I don’t buy antiques just because they are 100 or 200 years old.

Q: Do you pack small antiques in your luggage?

A: No, because every country has different regulations and I don’t want to be stuck at the immigration checkpoint because of these things. I ship everything back to Singapore.

Q: Since you travel so frequently with your husband for work, how do you maintain the peace during these trips?

A: Don’t treat him like your husband — treat him like a boyfriend you’re dating! It makes it so much better. And this is the time when you get to cuddle. If I do that at home with my daughter or my son around, they’re like “ahem, PDA PDA!” When they’re not around, it’s a totally different story.

Q: What are your travel must-haves?

A: I must have Vaseline: I can’t live without that. For my skin, my lips and my nails, cuticles and everything, especially during flights. Also Axe Oil, because I get headaches due to time changes and from not eating on time.

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