Want to learn carpentry? Woodwork with the Khers in Nashik this summer

Growing up as a kid in Mumbai Central my limited exposure to carpentry was through my father He loved acquiring different kinds of wood polishesmdasha dark chocolate a sienna and on and on it went But what I remember the most are summer afternoons when we would be out on the balcony putting on the first coat of polish on an old chair or table relishing working with our handsCut to 2019 when I attended a carpentry workshop in Chembur that was eventually discontinued and soon forgot all about my love for woodworking as the pandemic took over six months later So when we at Sunday midday heard about a carpentry workshop at Nashik it felt serendipitousWe loved the photo frame we were able to make within few hours right Adwait tries to show a student how to use a grinder to soften the edgesIt was also the word we used when we introduced ourselves to Adwait Kher the muscle behind Utopia Farmstay and the carpentry workshopmdashhowever I felt the brain was his wife Uttara sorry but not sorry AdwaitThe journey of the Kher family from Pali Hill to the middle of nowhere dates back from the late 1990s when Adwait was at the peak of his career in hospitality working at the Oberoi and was a few years away from taking up the reins of management ldquoMy manager at the time asked if I had gone off my rockerrdquo laughs the 72yearold Kher whose stamina is staggeringmdashhe manages the property which has a small farming section runs the carpentry workshop and oversees the yoga workshop run by his daughter Saunskruti along with his wifeOur prized possesion a book shelfWhen we say farmstay we donrsquot mean there are cattle running around but it is definitely one of those places where the sound of vehicles is an oddity and where the birds are your wakeup alarmRight off the bat I would say that if you are heading there for a carpentry workshop and hope to get time to chill and roam around then banish that notion right away The level 1 workshop we attended was gruelling to say the least and left us feeling sore with very little physical capability at the end of the day other than eating and passing out with sawdust in our hairHow the bookshelf beganThe workshops start at 9 am break for lunch and you are back to work by 245 pm until 6 pm in our case it ran longer By us I mean my partnerincrime in general Parth whose mild enthusiasm gave away to exhaustion by the end of day one itselfThe almostthreeday workshop begins with a bit of history about carpentry and then moves on to practicals very quicklyParth Satam tries to use the handsaw on a stick of raw teakwoodAdwait usually premeasures the wood before handing over to the class in this level this changes as you levelup and learn to measure and mark under his supervision The block of fat square wood that had a few markings and measurements on it that were indecipherable at first My only cluemdashitrsquos a photo frame The one thing I really liked about Adwait is that he doesnrsquot seem to rush to figure things out quickly For example he gives me about 10 minutes with this piece of wood and doesnrsquot run out of patience when I still get it wrong as to how to begin and where to make the first cut ldquoWell okay we can do that but then wherersquos the fun in thatrdquo he asks when I told him an uninspired way to begin what most of us think of as a photo frame a square mount I soon realised that Adwait is one of those who bends to the will of the wood rather than the other way round The pine wood we were working with was slightly sturdier than in the past workshop I had attended because it was Russian pine wood that is sourced from a manufacturing company nearby again a big part of his mantra of using materials at handldquoWe just have to look around and we will get everything we need from around us No need to spend money even the tools to be a decent hobby carpenter at home is a mere Rs 10000rdquo says Adwait indicating the table of tools in the openair workshopYours truly sanding some wood to smoothen it outMy photo frame makes me look like an artist and I improve on that with the bookshelf that we take up on the second day The bookshelf too is from the same material but a raw stick of teak wood was added in the mix as the fourth wall for the shelf Another plus of this workshop is that Adwait puts you in touch with the tools to use immediately So you have no time to be hesitant about using a jigsaw a grinder a sander and even understand rudimentary polishingWe loved everything about the Utopia Farmstay right from the repurposed wood that makes our beds our lamps and even the flower vases It seems the way of life here is to waste nothing ldquoThere is nothing here that has been purchased like the bed or the common arearsquos dining table Even the windows in our rooms are made of repurposed wood and that is a way of life I believe in carpentry too We often become too technical and want to run before we walkrdquo he saysA wine stopper is being polished and is one of the first items you learn at the workshopSo if you want to learn carpentry while being at peace with nature this should be your goto especially in the monsoon when the Godavari river swells up to the backyard of the farmstayRs 18900Per personRs 14500Per person if you go in pairsWho are the KhersAdwait Kher is the son of yestyear actress Usha Kiran and is married to Uttara who was crowned Miss India in 1992 The couple has two daughters actress Saiyami and SaunskrutiatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params