Interiors of his Khotachiwadi home. Pics/Bipin Kokate

Sunlight streams in from open windows, one of which offers a glimpse of a tiny green garden; it's the ideal place to switch off. Beside this garden, a flight of stairs run up to the first floor, which, designer James Ferreira shares, is his favourite spot in his 200-year-old home in Khotachiwadi, as he has countless memories of scurrying up as a kid. When we drop by on a pleasant morning in January, the designer is sketching at a desk, on which sits a black-and-white photograph of his mother, whose facial attributes would give any model who has worked with the designer a run for her money.