Indian of the Year 2008

I just got done watching the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2008 awards ceremony on TV.
In summary, the awards in the six categories were as follows:

Politics - Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister, Bihar
Sports - Abhinav Bindra, Olympic Gold Medalist
Business - Aditya Puri of HDFC
Entertainment - Aamir Khan, Actor
Public Service - Madhavan Nair and Team Chandrayaan at ISRO
Global Indian - A. R. Rahman, Musician

Apart from these, there were special achievement awards made to Sheila Dixit, Dilip Kumar as well as the officers in the Mumbai police for their valour in the attacks on 26th November.

The categorization for the various awards was understandable - excellance in any field is to be appreciated and in that respect I think all of the awardees were well qualified.

The final award of THE Indian of the year 2008, was announced at the end and persons from the eminent audience gathered for the award ceremony were asked to comment on who they felt deserved the crowning glory of the evening. The choice would have to be made from the six awardees in the various categories.

Up until this point, Yours Truly was impressed with the selections and the awards being handed out but as usual, I had to find something to rant about.

It was initially a note-worthy point when one member of the audience took a stand that in his opinion, it was those who fought for Mumbai during the terror attacks who truly deserve this award. What became silly was when a dozen (ok, i exaggerate. bear with me) other people stood up to repeat the same when asked who they would choose for the award. The officers and soldiers did a truly sterling job for the country in the time of need, and yes we all DO need to be extremely proud and thankful to them. It irks me though, when people try to draw so much drama and screen-time from something genuine like this. Rather than stand up at the slightest opportunity to proclaim our solidarity with cause (and hence state how noble we are), I think we would be much better off remembering that they did their jobs, and that we should too. In this case, I would have been a lot more interested to know the comments on who of the six should be made Indian of the Year.

Moving on, there were some other people who ventured to state their choices from the list of six. I was personally rooting for Madhavan Nair or Nitish Kumar and I'm glad to say that Madhavan Nair along with Team Chandrayaan was ultimately declared winner. All along though, I was wondering what it meant to call someone Indian of the year, especially when there were certain opinions that A.R.Rahman should be awarded.

Service to the nation and professional excellence need not be one and the same all the time. While we as a nation have the need for a global identity, we also urgently need a reconciliation of so many things within ourselves - not all what we do is for the world outside. Is the magnitude of the achievement the indicator of the most noteworthy? How do we evaluate magnitude anyway?

When professional excellence helps put India on the world map, that is something to be proud of too! But there are so many people working in so many ways for the people and to better the nation as a whole.
If we had to choose between the two, which do we pick, and how do we justify?

Self pity, maybe

Never thought I would get here but here I am. And no, I do not mean my prolonged absence on this page, though the absence is a symptom of being in the aforementioned "here".

I've been doing all KINDS of writing the past few months - thesis writing, SOP writing, essay writing.. most of it not my own work. These days I actually seem to be able to write better when someone is telling what to write about. Penning my own thoughts drives me nuts. Maybe because I never really seem to know what I'm trying to say.

Like now. Notice the "actually"'s and the "really"'s and the "seems"'s.

And that is the way with most things. Indecision, hesitation and forever feeling unsure and apprehensive, and at the end of it all I am either frustrated, or worse, bored.

There are so many convictions I have recently developed about things - convictions that are more often than not termed 'unrealistic'. I have come to realize how much I have been influenced by four years of education in architecture school and so many ideals that I have developed are just not considered practical to most other people I interact with.

I find myself unable to explain the reasons for my beliefs, in rational terms but there is also the constant pressure that I have to acknowledge, of the need to sell my ideas.

This post might end up being as vague as my other attempts at putting thoughts down in words.
One line of clarity on all the angst though : It is unfathomable to some people that I talk about city level waste issues when I could be designing fabulous buildings in glass. What are architects for, anyway, if not that.
Yeah, right.

South Chennai - North Madras!

I've lived in Mylapore all my life. There is a distinct character embedded in my mind, of what Chennai city is. It grew from an image of distinctive mylapore to encompass quite a lot, as the city changed and grew over the past twenty years, and I grew up with it.
I can relate to tiny bylanes of the Mylapore-Triplicane-Mandeveli area. I identify with the beaches and the residential Besant Nagar. I've seen quite a bit of the South and the West of the city including Anna Nagar, Ashok Nagar and the likes. I had even been up to Parry's corner and Fort St.George but until a few days back, I had never seen North Madras.

Over a few sudden and coincidental trips to the Harbor, the Fort, Royapuram and the area all the way up to Washermanpet was like being introduced to another persona of the same city that I have grown up in all these years. Beyond the chaos of Georgetown lies quite a chunk of the city that was alien to me and which , now that I have been given an introduction to, seems in my mind to be very differently structured from what "Namma Chennai" has come to mean to me.

Though the popular cultures of everyday living are as prevalent in North Madras as they are in the South, the history that the place carries with it tends to give it a more small town feel. Wide roads lined with buildings not greater than a few stories in height ( unlike the outbreak of glass towers on road edges in the southern parts of the city), heavy traffic on the roads but not many cars to be seen, quiet inner residential areas scattered with churches and convents of the Anglo-Indian identity, and that Something-In-The-Air that feels different from the other side that I relate to.

Perhaps it is because there are more industries and the Harbour in the north. The pollution and heavy vehicle activity that have been attributed to these sources seems to have kept away the sort of development one sees in the south of the city - real estate on a boom and malls and commercial complexes dotting every locality.

With many landmark buildings and places dotting the area, this part of the city does tend to give the feel of a City Left Behind but it is also true that there is Life in the activities of everyday living that show up in the most refreshing of ways.

The Walking Tour of North Madras conducted as part of the Madras Day celebrations was my latest venture into that part of the city. We were a small group of people led by freelance Journalist Swahilya and we enjoyed a full two hours of walking the streets and roads of North Madras as the city was waking up on this saturday morning. Many of my thoughts reflected here were spurned off from the discussions and observations on this walk, and a previous few meanderings I had taken up with a fellow explorer (you know who you are! ) in this region. It was an enjoyable trip, to be taking in all these sights of a place I had never realized the existence of. The group, primarily a bunch of Journalists and students of architecture, was small enough to go into niche areas we found interesting and locate our own Shortest Routes to get through and into places in the area. More on the Gap-In-The-Wall concept shall be up here soon hopefully. Until then, if you have not seen North Madras yet, do go and take a look by all means. If you have been there, and have something to add to my experience of the place, drop me a line!

Cheers, and Happy Madras Day!

Words

Complications, to most people, seem impressive.
The more convoluted, twisted and impossibly difficult to understand that a thing is, the more its value seems to appreciate.
I say this in the context of two recent events. One - the discussion about a particular course - Anthropology - and the kind of language that is demanded off the students to be able to attempt the exam. Two - looking up lyrics of certain english songs online (because I liked the music) only to find that the words meant absolutely nothing to me at all!

And so, in the spirit of something that I have been referred to as often (read: Peter) I have attempted to write the following :

Hypothetical Question-Answer pair in an Anthropology Exam

Q : In what way does building belong to dwelling?
A: Building that creates a sense of Place, imbibing the existential nature of the people is a building that can sublimely associate with the naturalistic principles of human thought processes. Conceptualizing the dwelling as the shelter for humans and therefore human thought comes closer to understanding the interconnections associated with building and builder, thus transforming pure lifeless form into a vibrant portrayal of the Act of Living.

( Dont ask me what I was trying to say. I was not trying to say anything. Just use fancy words. And many many adjectives. )

And now for the Song


Amorphia

I look into the darkness as the minutes pass
See no inkling of the light to come
There will be passion, there will be pain
But right now, my mind is numb

I can feel the look in your eyes
I can sense the shadows
I can un-der-stand the emotion
even as the darkness narrows!

The streets were filled with flowers
Iron bars kept us apart
And even as I counted the hours
they faded (yeah they faded!)
they faded even before the start

They took you down that scented path
Chaos dissolved my world
I walked those lonely nights with the ghosts of the past
and the silences that unfurled

I can feel the look in your eyes
I can sense the shadows
I can un-der-stand the emotion
even as the darkness narrows!

I can feel the look in your eyes
I can sense the shadows
I can un-der-stand the emotion
even as the darkness narrows!
As the darkness narrows...
the darkness narrows


(phew! )
Anyone's a lyricist!

I personally feel that being simple is a lot harder, and it takes more effort.This kind of thing takes no effort at all! Ever since that realization, I try to keep things simple.

Point to note though - this is not a mockery of lyrical attempts of the recent past. There are some songs which I think have the most beautiful verses I've ever heard. These are only my observations on the more frivolous (or so I feel) songs.

Cheers!

Orumaalai Ila Veyil Neram - Random Tag

Random tag I took up, it was fun!

Rules:
1. Put your MP3 player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write the name of the song no matter what. No cheating!

Declaration - All the results of this game are the ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Some of the matches are uncannily accurate - I did NOT adulterate it. Proof to this statement is Pritha Ilangovan who sat me through the whole procedure and bore with my shrieks of delight (thanks pritu)

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
Deewangi, Deewangi hai - Om Shanti Om
Rather apt isnt it :D

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Crazy Frog - Axel F :|

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Treat Me Right - Backstreet Boys
(ring a bell? :) )

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Pehla Nasha
well. hmm. :)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Kathalikkum Penin Kaigal - Kadhalan
vagueness.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Bol na Halke Halke - Jhoom barabar Jhoo

!!

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Duur - Strings.
Go figure :)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
En veetu Thotathil
Again a little vague but.... :)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Netru Illatha Maatram Ennadhu - Pudhiya Mugam
Ahem :)

WHAT IS 2+2?
I Never loved you anyway - The Corrs
Whatever

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Friends theme song!!!!!! - i'll be there for you!!!!!
its an omen :)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Wonderwall - Oasis
' I dont believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now" :)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Udhayananu Tharam
Dance track from a malayali movie of the same name.. need to figure that one :)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Lemon Tree
Err.. :D

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Roobarooooooo - Rang De Basanti
!! :)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Superstar!!!! - Jamilia
;)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Dhoom Thana - Om Shanti Om
(70's style :) )

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Follow Me - Uncle Kracker
:D

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Manam Virumbudhe Unnai
Weirdness!

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Nibrutha - Govindam
Classical track.. Hamir Kalyani. dunno what I am to infer from this.. hmm

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Endhan Nenjil Neengadha thendral nee dhaana - Kalangyan
I love you guys :)

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Oru Maalai Ila veyil neram - Ghajini
(but i did this in the morning and it is FRIKKIN COLD here)


I had fun doing this and I pass the tag on to everyone reading this :)
try it, its fun!

cheers.

Fall-ing

Fall colours are so beautiful!
This is my first official Fall - this season just omits itself in Chennai. Just the way every other season does, except the Summer. In Chennai, its either Summer, or its Not Summer.

Fall is almost over in Adelaide - winter should be setting in properly anytime now.

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Cyclic seasonal change happens without abating, bringing in year after year of new experiences and promise.
This time last year I had written about wanting to live the Fantasy. A year has passed, and I seemed to have come closer to learning to see that beautiful world of imaginary civilizations :)
A big Thank you to those who made that possible for me... You know who you are (A little Daniel Day Lewis but deal with it :) )

Season's Greetings :)

Oz

I have obviously been away.

I'm back now, but I am writing this to you from Down Under. I have moved (temporarily) to Adelaide in South Australia. The world outside has become a lot quieter!

On the other hand, this music that plays eternally in my head has never been clearer. The birdsong in the mornings, refreshing as never before and the rhythms through the day are the liveliest yet.

Australia is full of contrasts. The landscape is stark. The colors are beautiful. The people can only be described as a variety and the food - bland.

It is ordered, not chaos. I liked life in chaos and this takes getting used to. Its a lot easier than doing it the other way round I find. Sometimes one wishes one could magically merge the best of both worlds. Unlikely. And yet I have not stopped wondering if it could be done.

I like the kangaroos and the koalas. I even like the metro tickets and fiddly push buttons at intersections for pedestrians to cross roads. What I dont quite like is a repeated feeling of leaving things half-done. Like subway sandwiches for lunch which have naught but leaves in them. Or sticking ply on steel and calling it my house.

Insightful, really. For those of you out there reading this - there is no better way to understand a city than living and working there for any length of time. Forget the touristy deal.

I might write again from Oz if I find something of consequence, which I feel the urge to comment upon. That is likely to happen. I'm tired of philosophy.

Cheers!

Of villages, mansions and panneer soda

My class of fourth year students have been roped in on a collaborative project with a French team from Ecole d'Chaillot and Unesco, to work on a Conservation and Heritage management project in the Chettinad region. To be more specific, we were targeting the village of Kanadukathaan, to study the settlement of Naatukkotai chettiars there, and give proposals for the conservation of their built heritage.

Now, village though it might be, the houses of the chettiars living there are literally mansions. Huge beautifully constructed houses in wood and brick that have stood the test of time. At present, more than half the village is owned by four predominant families, who do not even live there anymore. Instead, there are caretakers who live there, taking care of these large, empty houses. Right from the start, we were confused as to what exactly was expected of us out of this project.

To begin with, we had already worked on proposals for the constructive development of a settlement, at the scale of a village, in our second year. That exercise dealt directly with the issue of sustaining a settlement and its people, but here we were talking about conservation of the built heritage, and we were unsure where the actual settlement fit it. Some were of the opinion that bringing in tourism as an activity will not only help create and sustain interest in the architecture of the chettinad and keep the buildings from deterioration, but will also provide for good employment opportunities for the people living at present in the village. To some of us, though, this seemed to be neither here nor there - neither are we really looking at the real issues faced by the people of the village, nor are we making any holistic attempt to preserve the chettinad tradition and culture itself - just attempting to make a museum of these mansion-houses, that can be wondered at from afar, and forgotten there. A static end to a very dynamic tradition.

Ever since, I have been having my own doubts on what Heritage Conservation really aims to do. Considering the chettinad example itself - what is really fantastic about this culture is the way their style of living and family set up generated these kinds of mansions on a village-scale settlement pattern. The craft of building, the use and the scales of spaces in the interior, the orientation on the outside and the street character that this created - all of these, in my opinion, cannot be "Conserved" as mere exhibits for an academic interest. Conservation should aim higher - at an attempt to sustain this tradition, or at least learn from the dynamics of it. But there again, we have a problem - the Chettiars themselves don't live that way anymore - at least not for the most part. So who is to live in that fashion anymore? With urbanism and progress driving people out of villages, modern ways of living have largely replaced these traditions. If we want to just preserve the skill and craft of building for their innate beauty and sensibility - again - who will it be for? Manual labor tends to be expensive in comparison with mechanization and mass production. Is exclusivism and imparting an "ethnic" or "designer" status to the craft the only way of sustaining it? Packaging it to suit the times?

I came across an article, while I was pondering over such things - I still have not found a satisfying solution to it by the way.
But this article was interesting in that, it tries to explain how the indian perception of culture and history has always been different. Take a look -

Concept of Historic time in India

The two legs on which conventional, that is, the European historiography (science of recording history) stands, are, the digging up of the past, that is archaeology and the embalming of the past, that is museology. Both these concepts were alien to the Indian mind, until the arrival of the British in the 18th century in the Indian consciousness, history has always been inextricably interwoven with what (according to the western concept) can only be termed as 'mythology'. At the same time, the western concept of mythology does not make sense to the Indian people. One is tempted to mention an interesting fact here : the two epics, the ramayana and the Mahabharata, which the western historians have dubbed as mythologies are called 'itihasas' (literally histories) in India.

Myth in India is perceived differently, certainly not as a fragment of the imagination or a fairytale. Precisely for this reason, a distinction has been made between the Mahabharata and the Panchatantra. The latter could never be called an itihasa. It is important to note that the historical format of the two epics is deliberately employed to make people use it as a point of reference to continuously evolve and influence the living patterns and attitudes of human societies of the past, the present and the future.

So it turns out that history in the form of itihasa is a creative use of past events for the present and future. The immediate concern of the people had never been the veracity of the actual events; nor whether they can be substantiated with the help of the modern historians in 'accurate' tools such as chronology and archaeology. The real concern, therefore, is the way the past, representing every age of human endeavour, can influence the contemporary lives and thoughts and the quality of human relationships and the way this knowledge can help us pass against this static backdrop of time. This has given birth to an interesting philosophical thought that, in historic time, the next phenomenon does not entirely replace the previous one. Nothing totally disappears in the 'black hole' of the past. There is always a continuum of existence and hence hardly any past. The second and more important stream of consciousness which the itihasa- along with some puranas from which they take root- induce in the minds of the people is the way the chronicles of the past should be used pragmatically and creatively (even at the cost of so-called historical accuracy) to help each individual and group to know and practice Life Order (dharma).

- Design, the Indian context ( H Kumar Vyas)

If we are to accept or at least give room for such thoughts, where are we headed, trying to document and preserve (in the most static sense of the term) a culture and tradition that need to be learned from, in a much more holistic way?
Confusing, or what :)

P.S The Panneer soda at the village "potti kadai" was highly exclaimed over by all. Did not quite suit my taste though :) Everything else about chettinad cuisine is droolworthy. Very Very Good Food!