The Cardboard Piano

The Cardboard Piano

As a kid, I developed a deep affection for pianos. Whether it was a toy, an upright piano or a grand
piano, I just couldn’t help but fall head over heels for them. So, whenever I come across a piano, I would completely lose myself in its enchanting tunes and find solace in playing it. It’s always been my dream to own one and have it grace my living room. But as we all know authentic pianos of any kind are extremely expensive. So, recently I came up with an ingenious plan to make my dreams a reality.

As a cheap alternative, I purchased a modest digital piano from Amazon for approximately ₹13000 and decided to add a touch of elegance to space. However, I still missed the aesthetics of a real piano.

A few months ago, I just found this entrepreneur named Karthic Rathnam who runs a cardboard innovation company called OUT OF THE BOX. They create furniture, lampstands, cupboards and many other items using cardboard that’s both cheap and eco-friendly. Inspired by their innovation I had this an idea “what if we made piano shell out of cardboard for my digital piano?” When I shared my idea with the proprietor of the place he seemed excited too.

So, we started to collaborate on this project along with his team. We took the measurements of an actual upright piano as a reference, and the measurements of my digital piano at home. We sketched out a few samples to visualize my cardboard piano. We then created cardboard templates and cutting them to size. We then assembled the pieces and secured them with glue.

The initial look of the cardboard piano was truly impressive. With some further modifications, it truly exceeded my expectations. Finally, we applied a coat of black matte spray paint to the cardboard piano, enhancing its beauty even further and making it extremely realistic, so much so, that no one would ever guess that it’s actually made of cardboard. When we positioned my digital piano on the designated spot within the shell, the transformation was complete.

This instrument now gracefully stands in my living room, and it feels like a dream realized. Since then, it has been quite amusing to witness the reactions of the people when I effortlessly lift the cardboard piano with just one hand. Their wide eyes and amazed reactions has become a joke. This entire process has actually taught me a valuable lesson – particularly through the material used. Cardboard is often seen as a material of little value, commonly used for packing purposes and discarded without much thought. However, in the hands of a skilful creator this simple material was transformed into something of value. When the digital piano was placed into the cardboard shell, the creation was complete as suddenly this piece of cardboard received life. As I thought about it. this almost seems like a parallel to the way we were created. The Bible in Genesis says that we were made out of a seemingly worthless material namely “dust’ but , when the life-giving breath of God filled our lungs we became a living being. We were created by God in His images so that we can bring joy and life wherever we go.

If your life feels worthless or less worthy than the ideal that God has set for you remember that you are created in the image of God. We are more than the exterior shell we call a body, for God has placed asoul of immense value in each of us. Isaiah 64:8 which says “But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.” Indeed, you may down- value yourself often but in the hands of our Mighty Creator your inadequacies can transform into a beautiful instrument of honour.