MADURA COATS CANTEEN EASY CHAIR - 583

  The Long Forgotten Easy Chair 

The Easy Chair like so many other items of its times is a thing of the past and it seen only in a few homes where it finds space mostly as an Antique Possession. Many in the current Millennium might not have even heard or  seen them . 

In our times it occupied the prime of place in the verandah of the house , where the young or the old would would relax with THE HINDU or HOT COFFEE for company . Sunday Siesta after a heavy lunch with the breeze as it swishes past you from the palm trees was always a heavenly feel. Bungalow no 281 or 620 where I grew up in Kharagpur had trees all around our Compound. 

Smaller Houses are  now the preferred choice . Space being at a premium in the Apartment  Complexes the Easy Chair has had to make way for the 3 Seater Sofa or a 3+2 Set .

My Colleagues from Madura Coats Might remember these dainty chairs with their distinctly Continental Touch   in  the Staff Canteen . There were at least half a dozen such chairs in the spacious Rest Room . A few minutes rest after Snacks and Coffee in the canteen especially during the night shifts on these sturdy Chairs with the leg rest for added comfort was a  most welcome and looked forward to event every workday . Smokers would love this place even  more as this was the only place where Smoking was still allowed inside the Mill Compound  . Initially , I had always wondered if this had the official sanction of the Management . The presence of TWO ELECTRIC CIGARETTE LIGHTERS at vantage points near these Easy Chairs finally laid to rest all my doubts. These chairs with their foldable leg - rests and static arm rests were sheer heaven for the few minutes of rest that they provided in the Canteen .

On a lighter note . 

These easy chairs also  came with a sturdy Canvas Cloth Base to hold you  . These  were held firmly at the top and bottom by inserting a Round Hard Wooden Ruler across its width . The story goes around that once ,  I as a kid of 10 or thereabouts  , during the Annual Summer Vacation  visit  at Ravanasamudram had removed the binding ruler even as my Grandfather was getting ready for his regular afternoon siesta. A timely miracle of someone else noticing the same saved any mishap . I believe I was at the recieving end of a very good round of spanking from all and sundry for this mischief with the aid of this very same Hard Rounded Ruler .

These chairs are now a relic of the past and can be found in the Retiring and Waiting Rooms of Large Railway Junctions across the country  which owe its connection to the Btitish Rule of the past .

TAIL PIECE  : My Son does have a very nice and Comfortable EASY CHAIR in his home at Ajax in Canada and my lovely and dear Grandson is all of 10 years now.   Thankfully And Mercifully this comes without  the ruler!!!  at the top and bottom .