Forget foam mattresses or even the ones with spring coils – for a comfortable night’s sleep that was also cheap, you’d want to go for a Manjaa.

The manjaa, known to the British as charpoys and then colloquially called here ‘Bengali beds’ is a bed made from a wooden frame and rope. There was no need for a mattress, as the rope was woven across the wooden frame and would act as the mattress. It’s relatively rare now, but yg managed to come across one when he was passing through Mandai. The next time you need to change a bed, perhaps you might consider taking a pointer from this oldie-but-goodie. After all, it doesn’t cost very much by way of materials, and you could possibly learn to make one yourself!