CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As its name implies—Baba One Of A Kind is an antique store filled with unique items. It has been around the Coastal Bend for 16 years.
Many of the items represent South Asian Culture. Some of the pieces come from India, Indonesia, Bali, Jakarta, and even Turkey.
For Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, KRIS 6 news went on a field trip to this hidden gem. Our Naidy Escobar learned all about how it's using South Asian culture to make people feel right at home.
Priti Cox has owned the store for 16 years. She was born in India and when she came to the Coastal Bend, she wanted to share a piece of her culture.
She said Southeast Asia is vibrant—rich in history and art—with its paintings, sculptures, and architecture.
"I really strongly believe that you should really love the place you live or places you live and make it a little better," Cox said."To me starting Baba was adding that culture, the craftsmanship, the carvings, all kind of things that are different that we didn’t have in the community."
Priti hand-picks every single item that’s featured in her store. She offers door knobs, wooden panels, doors, bookshelves, and even refurbished furniture.
She and her husband make unique furniture like dining tables out of doors or windows. Each piece isn’t just beautiful—they have meanings behind them.
"When the brides will get married, they will take all their clothing or jewelry all their belongings in this chest to go to their home so basically like a hope chest," she said.
There are pieces that are over 200 years old.
You can come across symbols related to her culture. In some of the carvings, you will see a common subject in India, like peacocks or Ganesha.
The peacocks symbolize beauty, grace, and pride and are the national bird. Ganesha is a Hindu god who is often depicted with the head of an elephant and the body of a human.
He is known as the remover of obstacles.
From a very young age, Priti has always had a love for antiques and art history. She said she feels honored to be able to share that same love with people in our community.
"I feel we all should provide something. It doesn’t have to be larger, so to me, bringing culture of India carvings and all of that that really is basically providing that love for the community."
If you want to check out some of her pieces, click here.
