From alien hitchhikers to sassy cows and copulating frogs, online home decor webstore Quirko Shop goes beyond pop art cliches, Che Guevara and Bob Marley, to highlight the quirk in animals, space cowboys and the regular Joe

Quirky: Something that is strange/not normal but cool, according to the online Urban Dictionary.
There was a time when Che Guevara cushions and mad shot glasses were instant conversation starters, falling in the category of 'cool maal'.
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But then, curios from Play Clan, Happily Unmarried and their ilk became everybody and their neighbour's favourite collectibles. Not cool.
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MEET SNAFU AND CO.
We logged on to the ten month-old brainchild of Bangalore-based, one-time Chartered Accountant Kaveri Medappa's Quirko Shop an alien who stepped off his spacecraft, egged us on to explore the site further.

Snafu, as the ET is known at Quirko, turned out to be the store mascot, popped up at random spots on the site and made us smile at our monitors. Snafu, the homepage tells us, found his love, in an earthly bovine beauty called Miss Sassy Cow who mesmerised him so much that he missed his Xarzocraft flight and stayed back on earth.

You will find curios like Sassy on sale; she'll be joined by Snafu, very soon.

"We give a character to most of our sourced products, by weaving a story around them," explains Medappa, a mother who operates from her home pad.

So you will also meet K9, the armoured dog cellist (who cleverly protects himself from brickbats and rotten eggs hurled by audiences), Benji the Nerdy Mouse, Francesca the Rain Frog, Bovinestein (Sassy's intellectual cousin) and Dr Blink the Owl all metal-based knick-knacks that will add character to your bookshelves.

We weren't too impressed with the Couch section (pop art cushions sporting Marilyn Monroe and Jim Morrison are passe) though there's a one-off Rajput-print silk-and-brocade and a Disco cushion that break the clutter.
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The Table section includes fun (but somewhat pricey) stuff by NID-graduate and Tattva brand owner, Mukul Goyal while the Bar section makes for cool gifts for friends who take their tipple seriously.

CROAK AWAY
But what we fell in love with were the dopey-eyed frogs in various Frogasutra positions, kissing and making love, over canvassed lamps.

Medappa wouldn't fully reveal the origins of some of the other cutesy creatures (like the set of three long-necked cats); we were told they came all the way from villages in north India.
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"We wanted to bring together quirky stuff made by various established and upcoming product designers," shares Medappa.

"With an online store, one has the convenience of browsing through all the products on offer, placing the order at home and having it delivered to your doorstep.

We also try to update the stories of various characters so you don't just have an artifact but also an evolving story."

Look out for exclusive Quirko Shop products conceptualised by Medappa as well as digitally modified vintage photos of regular Joes, on cushion covers.

Log on to www.quirkoshop.com. Quirko delivers to Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Cochin and Mumbai