Mosaic tiles through the golden mean

In one of my previous attempts on this blog I had compared the Fibonacci with the Paisley. Last week I was in Gujarat to review the work happening on one of the residential projects that I am handling on behalf of the Delhi based Architectural firm I work with, K2INDIA. It's a renovation project that we are doing where in we are expanding the first residential property designed by Ar.Charles Correa in India. A very interesting and amalgamated play of levels, heights and angles indeed! At one of the levels I was glued to what a woman was busy doing. A very evident contributor to the art of mosaic laying that was started in the age of Mesopotamian civilization, this young woman was collecting little pieces of tiles by breaking big solid pieces of tiles. What interests me is the pattern she was following while breaking. Did someone just brief her on the golden mean??? Don't forget to adore the baby in deep sleep while his mauma is busy contributing to this form of Art ;) 

Alang; a porthole onshore.

The permanent stains of oil and grease on my leather shoes is a souvenir I brought back from Alang. My frequent travel to Gujarat in the recent past enlightened me about Alang on the western coast of the Gulf of Khambat. Considered to be one of the world's largest shipyards, Alang recycles half of world's ships.

The swirl of the windmills while approaching the shore, the moisture laden winds and a drizzle followed by a strong sun was all that was essential to make this brief visit drenched in filth and dirt. Dirty in real sense, beautiful in a realistic sense. Apparently, Alang is one such evident example of business tourism in India where one encounters cargo ships, containers, passenger ships, cruises that approach this shore for their final breakdown bringing along people from Korea (of course South), Japan, Europe, South East Asia and locally from all parts of India.

I hence spotted lesser Gujratis in Gujarat. Loads of young men from Bihar and UP are here making this place sound very different to how Gujarat sounds. A sea shore for someone who comes from a landlocked area of India's National capital is typically a beach in Kerala or a shack in Goan waters but this was a third dimension. A shore with Ships of all sizes lined, fumes in the air of continuous welding and burning, moisture of the western coast and noise of course from all the dismantling happening around. One of the workers took me to this cargo which was a live example for me.

As a practicing spatial designer I couldn't stop myself from admiring the fact that the best possible way to see efficient space planning is to get into a ship. And if its a ship getting dismantled, its a blessing indeed! You not only visually observe a sectional elevation of this massive structure being chopped off in parts but you even practically experience it finding yourself standing at one of the levels.

Climbing to the third level from the deck using the technically called 'bulwark ladder', I found myself in some machine room which was not a room. Actually, I was inside the engine which was now half opened! Felt as an anti body inside the engine of an automobile. Like how they show in automobile engine oil animated graphic ads with the gear starts moving at a faster pace when poured the special engine oil.

Further up, there was this part which seemed to be a habitable part of a cargo ship. My attention was grabbed by this plant which was still alive in a ship, breaking of which had started 2 months back.

About the materials and stuff gathered from any ship, there is a different chapter to the story. There are merchants who deal in specific stuff and leftover. So you have one trader who deals only in reclaimed wood and you end up getting good quality wood that has survived at least 20 years in the global ocean waters and then you have series of shops selling machinery that is further purchased by mechanics, industrial design students and small scale industries. From toilet paper to computers, electricals to old paintings, anchors to bunk beds, life jackets to Jack Daniel glass ware. You get everything here for your next startup!

And heres a mere flowchart of how transportation and businesses happen that I had learnt in school books.

This visit was one of those unplanned ones that strengthen my ideology that travel can never be planned. The perception of travel in this age of DSLRs has to be instant. Any location can be beautiful, charming and picturesque. With a time restriction, it was time for me to head North and catch the last flight of the day to Delhi. Taking back home not just the oil stains and soiled denims from Alang, I did managed to trade an age old compass from one of the shops selling antiques which I don't think I am ever going to use pertaining to my 'rolling Stone, no direction home ideology'

More uphaars yet to come!

It was back in the late 90s/early 00s that I was on a train with my parents and brother to Jammu. That was the time when I was curious to know why does the second shutter of the window (not the glass one) even exist? The train journey to me was an overnight journey which could happen only via limited trains in my knowledge; Pooja, Shalimar and Jammu mail. I was a mere kid but what I still remember of the journey was an interaction with an old couple on the opposite berth accompanying a little girl. ______________________________________________________________________________Today when I came back home in the evening I surfed through the television channels. Disconcerted, I put on the bollywood movie Border. A chain of thought processes and I am in the train to Jammu. Two years back I did some part time work with a design Studio in green park. Getting off the tube and passing through the service lanes everyday I noticed this huge ruined building with a shady corridor and a rusted structure of a car that was parked there some day. Later on when I got to know that the building I passed everyday was the Uphaar Grand Cinema, I was taken back to this conversation between the old couple and my father that had happened in the train to Jammu. An overnight journey in the train had always fascinated me. How come I get up in the morning and the train is moving in the opposite direction. Yes it did happen and it happens even today, just that today I know the reason! _____________________________________________________________________________ It was that time of the journey when going to bed seems nearly impossible because you find the opposite party is still waiting for the food they ordered from the pantry. The little girl accompanying her grandparents was least interested in food. Addressing to her grandparents as mummy and papa she was wanting to climb to the upper berth. The sad part is that both her parents had passed away in the Uphaar cinema tragedy when she was an infant. I remember her grandfather sharing with my dad that how in the years after the tragedy, the girl had sensed a mummy and a papa in her grandparents. With time she would have got to know about her parents and what took them away from her. ______________________________________________________________________________ All this could have been curtailed if violation hadn't taken place. Today when Restaurants in Hauz Khas Village are shut due to the violation of laws, the youth gets offended and retaliates by saying 'ye kya mazaak hai?' 'government ko kuch kam ni hai kya?' Illegal construction, over use of resources is so prevalent today that the dingy and tightly packed staircases of cafes at Paharganj and Hauz Khas Village seem off stream, cool and inviting, and then we question why did it happen in Kedarnath?

Fibonacci's Paisley

India has been bestowed with a commendable design history. It is at this point of time when the merging of the two worlds is at the peak. The cultural aspect of the country is slightly on the precarious side but it’s the present that will become the past in the time to come and will thus add to the timeline of India. Be it the planning conceived by the Indus valley civilization or the grandeur of The Mughals or even the time before the 90s, there is something basic that needs to be appreciated. The connections to the other parts of this planet were not very diverse, and life was troublesome as I compare it with the present. It were such conditions which made the individual seek for alternatives, basic yet good ideas to survive. Yes, we have stopped seeking for alternatives in the present time. Paisley- a unique pattern which traces its origin in South Asia (India or Persia) is a pleasing, soothing and a balanced form which has been used extensively in India. The shawls from Kashmir in the north to the Kanchipuram Saris (Indian Drape) in the south, you will find paisley in every wardrobe across the country. Not to forget the heena designs commonly known as mehendi which start with a paisley. I have always been fascinated with the Fibonacci series and have wondered if it was known to the creators of paisley. Yes, I can see the golden curve in paisley.

dilli toh sau kilomtetre dur hai.

Its been like 2 and a half months that i visited this place in Rajasthan, about 100 kms from Delhi towards Alwar. 'Neemrana'

I had approached a Design studio based in Delhi for some part time work. It was towards the end of august, 2011 that i fortunately got a chance to report to Sarthak and Sahil Design CO. after my college hours.

A giant chandelier as i was told by my boss. Something that catches hold of your sight as you enter the building. and it does not let you shift your sight for the next 5 minutes.

2nd February 2012. A day before my 21st birthday. The day when the final installation had to take place. Luckily i got to accompany the team to the fort 'NEEMRANA FORT'

A lamp 18 feet high, took almost 8 hours to be hung from the ceiling of the hawa mahal. What interests me the most today is the time spent in the fort during the short breaks we got in the entire process. The fort is under renovation and will soon become a holiday resort. Widely spread on a plateau the fort is currently (as on 2nd february) approached by just load bearing lorries and SUVs.

A shrieking voice of a boy who runs a kitchen would create suspense when he says "dilli toh sau kilometre dur hai" (delhi is approx 100 kms from here). An era when people ensure that their location presents proximity to the capital, this young man says 100kms! Ironically, in and around Delhi, when distances increase people start talking in terms of time.



Approached by the unstoppable winds and the epic love birds you realize how linguistically homogeneous the place was through the love quotes and messages in English Hindi Urdu and a few foreign languages. Extending my view from one of the openings i could see the lush green fields and a hamlet right there surrounding the well constructed house of some higher authority.



Thhandi hawa hai thhandi chhaaon hai
Door woh jaane kiska gaaon hai


The pulley principle followed to hang the lamp reminded me of the Kerala fishing nets but here it was to attain 'a luxury' not 'a need'
By the time it was dark we had completed the task and had to leave for delhi which was 100 kms away. With a common demand of food we stopped at a dhaba and stuffed ourselves with the first meal of the day.

It was around 22:30 and we were about to reach Gurgaon. With high hopes of catching the last metro I managed to board one at around 22:45 probably the last one! Next i had to escape and rush to the elevated platform at kashmiri gate to board the Red Line, and yes i got the last metro. I had traveled in the first metro of the day and the last metro of the same day on the same route and that gave an amazing start to my birthday as i got my first birthday call.

Rockstar has no ties with rock music.

A lot of speculations were made for the movie Rockstar. Expectations were high and yes the music had already set everything on fire. After a long time A.R Rehman had come up with something really nice. Firstly, the movie Rockstar is NOT about Rock Music. This goes to all the rock music lovers who were deeply hurt by the movie. They said "the movie ruined rock music". Maybe the Rock lovers owe themselves a mere insight about how to watch a movie. The movie talks about a passionate guy and in this case it could have been picturised on a painter or a photographer, traveler/guide who for the sake of his love.... The movie has an amazing picturisation, and the key elements which can only be noticed when you scrutinize the scenes, the characters. The movie talks about absolute freedom which everyone is entitled to and the same is conveyed by 'sadda haq'. But an absolute freedom will surely lead to an end. The story is more concerned towards the life of the protagonist which is enacted by a passionate musician. Watch the movie and before doing so keep your 'headphones' aside.
And yes its not Jim Morrison's biography, its NOT about Rock Music.

I fear of the day when bomb attacks will lead to natural deaths.

I was backpacking in Himachal Pradesh when I met these young people from Israel. The young travelers who had completed their army and had come to India. The three x army employees were traveling in the northern part of India since months. I returned to Delhi from Himachal in a week and these real travelers continued to explore various passes of Himachal, and then Ladakh, Kashmir, Rishikesh. Yesterday, one of them had left for Israel and I had a great time showing Talia, the capital city which was a contrast to all the country side locations, villages, hills she went through. Talia had messaged me about her Delhi arrival through facebook and we thus panned to meet.
'The people tree' store in Connaught Place. At around 11A.M i get a call from a friend who informs me about a bomb blast outside the Delhi High court. It wasnt a jolt because a same incident happened on 13 july 2011 and so on... but I was somewhere ashamed. I was accompanying a friend who wasnt from India and had to communicate to her about the blast. the Irony is that the moment i got the call we were busy selecting t shirts on 'world peace'. The t shirt we purchased said 'how many times will the cannon balls fly before they are forever banned' yes delhi was unsafe on that very day.

The entire day was consumed visiting Delhi Hatt, Humayuns Tomb, Agrasen ki Baoli, and finally Khan market. I hope my friend has reached back her home safe and fine. The same night Delhi gets a few tremors of an earthquake. 6.6 on the richter scale. but it was actually 4. something. Had it been a 6.6, something like Bhuj would have had happened to Delhi. Several natural deaths. but suddenly i realized the share of natural deaths was being taken over by the blast in the morning. Alas! I fear of the day when bomb attacks will lead to natural deaths.