Ape of Good Hope

The prospect of driving Bombay potty was enough for Bangalorean Thomas Louis to pack his wheel and move to our fair city. Here, the National Institute of Design (NID) graduate collaborated with Bhagyashree Patwardhan and Mubina Kachwalla to set up Monkey Business, a fun pottery and ceramics studio in Versova that retails a range of pretty and not-so-pretty bric-a-brac (see elegant leaf plate and fun fish tails that protrude from walls).

But what you should really care about is this: Starting September 16, Monkey Business will serve as a teaching studio where nerves will be relieved, stress sieved and sighs heaved. A place where the overworked who’ve been prescribed soothing activities and the unemployed who’ve been told to get a hobby, can sign up for beginner's sessions to learn basic pottery techniques like coiling, slabbing, glazing and firing.

The mud monkeys here also plan to loan out their workspace to other artists who are interested in sharing their crafts, so expect to get behind more than just the potter’s wheel.

Getting there: Monkey Business, 170, Aram Nagar 1, Versova, call  Bhagyashree on 9819486506 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to register for the beginner’s course in pottery, Rs 5,000 for four 2-hour sessions every Friday from 2 pm to 4 pm starting September 16. Saturday sessions start from October 1.