the rise of the new urban class that could now afford expensive furniture of unfamiliar origin. In the Indian background there could have been least possibility of gradual evolution of a chair because the sitting on an ‘Asana’ for performing various household and ritualistic functions did not conform to a hanging-leg posture but of squat or crouch. Since there were differences in body size, physique, costume, eating habits, postures, socializing spaces, architecture of the Europeans vs Indians dwellings and places of congregation, the native Indian furniture was considered ‘unsuitable’ thus paving the way for the new type of articles into the Indian society. Obviously, a European club, a court, a ‘Daftar’ or a port office could not be run by crouching on a Peedha or a Takhtposh (bench), therefore, the chair and table and other domestic and office furniture found a straightforward entry and soon became part of the Indian ambiance. This transition is a saga of neglect for the Indian traditional designs, of vocational acumen and attitudinal alienation and rise of the market in British Empire in the most populous country of the Orient Whereas men in the rural area of erstwhile Punjab and Rajputana preferred sitting on a Charpoy (cot) with legs hanging down or touching the ground or a Moodha made of reed with rear support, women always squat in Peedha; not because the latter had subordinate social status but due to ergonomics and comfort.1 Costume and posture assumed added significance which is why someone had jestingly called it furniture of the peasant class. A century ago when European style chair was not a part of home furniture most women put on Ghagra i.e. a heavy skirt to cover, legs, which made it customary on them to assume a posture that covered body parts in whole. Women in rural areas, particularly of the peasant families, were required to perform daily household chores, that necessitated sitting for long hours in the open, courtyard kitchen to prepare meals and roast loaves in the earthen hearth, grinding food grains in hand operated stone-mill (Chukki), churning curd in early morning in a vessel for obtaining butter, performing embroidery, singling folk songs on occasions and working on a spinning wheel (Charkha), washing the baby or gossiping in groups for which the most preferred type of an object of ergonomic comfort was, Peedha. This portable and compact item remained part and parcel of the paraphernalia in homes. ‘Tracing ancestry of the Peedha may necessitate a peep into the distant past stretching into the Mahabharata era in which -as the textual mentions inform us, the item was in vogue. Painted folios added to manuscripts prepared during the reign of Mughal Emperors Close of the rear support depicting, Image courtesy: Ranbir Singh 4 Close up depi reinforced with iron stripes, Image courtesy: Ranbir Sing 1g floral motifs in geometrical patterns. Joints