Although the topic may seem completely vague to most people not associated with architecture, this post should still be worth reading (hopefully!).
Well, this semester we have a course called "Principles of Human Settlement and Planning" which is being taught to us by one of my absolute favourite teachers who is one person who knows everything about everything. He can talk for hours about any topic under the sun. He was even a part of R.K.Pachori's team which won the Nobel Prize. Well, so anyway, coming back to the topic, the lecture started off on how settlements grew and how with time philosophers tried to define factors that influenced the growth of settlements. After pretty good discussions about how we all have personality spheres which are impacted by personality spheres of people around us, we moved on to discuss what was common between old settlements and present day settlements which would probably not change with time. The answer was...spaces to house people, congregational spaces and connections between spaces. That was when it all began...I argued with Sir that maybe in the future, congregational spaces would not be required since everything could be done through video conferencing. To that he answered, that is also the creation of a virtual space, which ofcourse I just had to counteract by saying that a virtual space was not a real physically present space on the earth surface...which led him to say what actually bemused me to such an extent that at that very moment I told myself that I had to write about this. He said, "How are you sure that everything around you is real?". And I shut up.
Normally an ardent debater, this time I was actually left speechless. What could I say? After some thought I said, then Sir there is absolutely nothing in this world that is absolute! To which he gave his wide trademark grin and said "Yes!"
That led us to a discussion on how the future would be. Video conferencing, 3-d image transfers of humans into virtual environments in which they could actually interact without being present physically, digital transfer of just about everything, just like the Jetsons. How cool would that be! Which led me to think about how crime would also become digitized. Hackers would be thieves, where they would hack into the transportation protocol and divert products or people to their desired locations and steal or kidnap. We oculd grow our choice of plants in our gardens, as fast as we want them to grow, maybe even invent new species altogether. Each one having their one chance at playing God. Really, there is no limit to human imagination. Just as I was shaken out of these thoughts by Sir as he moved on to more technical discussions on human settlements, one of my classmates called out "Sir, phir toh yeh sab moh maaya hai!". There was nothing else left for anyone else to day.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Calicut Part-II
Another day in Calicut...
We were woken up early by my friend's parents as there was a day-trip planned out for us and the car that was to take us around had already arrived. We quickly got ready and left for Kappad beach. With a few stops here and there, we reached the beach. It was gorgeous in the true meaning of the word. No excreta, perfectly jagged rocks(with danger signs painted on it!), perfect clean beach, shore line filled with coconut trees, amazing breeze. All of them added to creating a perfect postcard picture. After rock climbing in a salwar kurta(!) and taking some nice and some very stupid photographs, we got back into the car and headed for a boat ride. Her cousin knew some one who had a house boat and he had arranged a ride for us. Just as we stepped into the boat, it started raining which only made the scene more beautiful. Lots of coconut trees, a meandering coastline, scenes of women making ropes from fibres from coconut peels, coupled with rain made my day.
After the boat ride, we rushed back to the house to leave for the bride's house. Quick freshening up followed by a cup of coffee and we were out of the house.
The drive to the bride's house was about an hour long. Tired from rock climbing, I slept through the journey, the Malayalam conversation providing the perfect lullaby. The next few hours went by in a blur. We reached, walked about aimlessly in the bride's house for a while, shifting from room to room until finally we got a glimpse of the beautifully adorned bride, had a great photo session with lots of light and flashes until the bride was positively bored and even a tad bit irritated. Then came the actual mehndi ceremony in which every member of the bride and groom's family would contribute a little to the beauty of the bride's hands decorated with exquisite mehndi patterns.
During the ceremony there was a live example of Modernism in front of us. The bride had already gotten mehndi put on her hands by a professional before the ceremony and the family members would only come and touch the tip of a cone to her hand and pose for a photograph. Talk about forgetting our traditions!
After clicking photographs and sneaking in a few tid-bits of conversation, we moved out for dinner. Biryani with fried chicken, eaten in the typical desi way by our hands, was all we needed to satiate our appetites. Since there were no elders who had accompanied us from the groom's side as a tradition, there were very few pleasantries exchanged and soon enough we headed back to the groom's house for another karaoke session. Too tired to show any enthusiasm, we headed straight to a bedroom and sat and talked until it was time to leave. While leaving, my friend made sure that she kept no secret of the fact that I had told her that I would write about my trip on my blog. While my friend bore my weight as I sat on her lap during the ride home, we talked and laughed and I enjoyed my last night in Calicut. Upon reaching home, we were greeted by her grandmom who smiled sweetly at me and asked "Coffee?". With a huge grin on my face, I quickly replied, "Yes, please!"
After that I only remember waking up the next day. We quickly got ready and I packed my bags, dreading the nauseating 6-hour flight back. As the rest of the family was heading out to the marriage house, I said my good-byes. After a last mug of coffee, we headed out to the airport. We spoke little on the way there because it was too much for us to bear that we were departing again. It had hardly set in that we were actually seeing us together, and it was already time for us to part ways again.
Sad and heavy hearted I said good bye, hugged her as tightly as I could with all the energy that I was left with after she squeezed me with all her might, and left. The ride back was uneventful.
Overall, the trip was a perfect one. In one weekend, I managed to see both the nature and the culture of Kerala, and I mean it in the literal sense!
If nothing else, I am sure my friend's family will carry the memory of my coffee to their graves...
We were woken up early by my friend's parents as there was a day-trip planned out for us and the car that was to take us around had already arrived. We quickly got ready and left for Kappad beach. With a few stops here and there, we reached the beach. It was gorgeous in the true meaning of the word. No excreta, perfectly jagged rocks(with danger signs painted on it!), perfect clean beach, shore line filled with coconut trees, amazing breeze. All of them added to creating a perfect postcard picture. After rock climbing in a salwar kurta(!) and taking some nice and some very stupid photographs, we got back into the car and headed for a boat ride. Her cousin knew some one who had a house boat and he had arranged a ride for us. Just as we stepped into the boat, it started raining which only made the scene more beautiful. Lots of coconut trees, a meandering coastline, scenes of women making ropes from fibres from coconut peels, coupled with rain made my day.
After the boat ride, we rushed back to the house to leave for the bride's house. Quick freshening up followed by a cup of coffee and we were out of the house.
The drive to the bride's house was about an hour long. Tired from rock climbing, I slept through the journey, the Malayalam conversation providing the perfect lullaby. The next few hours went by in a blur. We reached, walked about aimlessly in the bride's house for a while, shifting from room to room until finally we got a glimpse of the beautifully adorned bride, had a great photo session with lots of light and flashes until the bride was positively bored and even a tad bit irritated. Then came the actual mehndi ceremony in which every member of the bride and groom's family would contribute a little to the beauty of the bride's hands decorated with exquisite mehndi patterns.
During the ceremony there was a live example of Modernism in front of us. The bride had already gotten mehndi put on her hands by a professional before the ceremony and the family members would only come and touch the tip of a cone to her hand and pose for a photograph. Talk about forgetting our traditions!
After clicking photographs and sneaking in a few tid-bits of conversation, we moved out for dinner. Biryani with fried chicken, eaten in the typical desi way by our hands, was all we needed to satiate our appetites. Since there were no elders who had accompanied us from the groom's side as a tradition, there were very few pleasantries exchanged and soon enough we headed back to the groom's house for another karaoke session. Too tired to show any enthusiasm, we headed straight to a bedroom and sat and talked until it was time to leave. While leaving, my friend made sure that she kept no secret of the fact that I had told her that I would write about my trip on my blog. While my friend bore my weight as I sat on her lap during the ride home, we talked and laughed and I enjoyed my last night in Calicut. Upon reaching home, we were greeted by her grandmom who smiled sweetly at me and asked "Coffee?". With a huge grin on my face, I quickly replied, "Yes, please!"
After that I only remember waking up the next day. We quickly got ready and I packed my bags, dreading the nauseating 6-hour flight back. As the rest of the family was heading out to the marriage house, I said my good-byes. After a last mug of coffee, we headed out to the airport. We spoke little on the way there because it was too much for us to bear that we were departing again. It had hardly set in that we were actually seeing us together, and it was already time for us to part ways again.
Sad and heavy hearted I said good bye, hugged her as tightly as I could with all the energy that I was left with after she squeezed me with all her might, and left. The ride back was uneventful.
Overall, the trip was a perfect one. In one weekend, I managed to see both the nature and the culture of Kerala, and I mean it in the literal sense!
If nothing else, I am sure my friend's family will carry the memory of my coffee to their graves...
Calicut Part-I
Althought I had heard alot about the beauty of Kerala, I hadn't actually been able to see it myself until a few weeks back. Going down to Calicut to see an old friend who I hadn't seen for the past 3 years just for a weekend didn't seem like a very bright idea, considering that the air ticket cost me almost as much as a trip to Dubai and back. I really wanted to see her and didn't really know when else I would get the opporunity to since she lives all the way in Aberdeen, Scotland, so I mustered up enough guts to ask my Dad if I could go down to visit her. After a lot of convincing that Calicut is not a gangster city (I really don't know where he got that idea from!), he finally agreed.
I had my part of the trip planned which included getting on the flight to Calicut and from Calicut, the rest was left upto my dear friend.
Since she was in India for a cousin's marriage scheduled for the same weekend that I was visiting for, she made it very clear in her guilt laden voice that she wouldn't be able to show me around much because we had to attend a few marriage ceremonies. Being too overwhelmed with the fact that I was actually going to see her, I didn't pay much attention. So, eager and very bewildered, I took a train to Delhi and then finally boarded the plane to Calicut which finally brought me to Calicut after 6 whole hours of nauseating air travel including 3 take-offs and 3 landings at Mumbai, Coimbatore and Calicut.
I exited the small airport fast enough to find no car waiting for me outside. After making a few calls, I finally got through to my friend and got to know that she was just 5 minutes away (which actually meant 20 minutes). The view from the airport was spectacular- green hills and valleys with lush vegetation, clouds lying close to the land and people strolling by wearing shirts and lungis. Cracking up at the very sight of men walking around with just one piece of white cloth wrapped around their waists(no offence intended, it was just very new to me!), I tried not to make it too obvious and waited. Finally she came, and thus started my tour of Calicut and the experience of a lifetime(I actually mean that).
Being a South Indian Muslim, her family members had to stop at a mosque on the way to her house to recite their Friday afternoon prayers. We couldn't stop talking! There was so much to actually talk about. Neither of us could actually believe that we were actually seeing each other! We reached home, to be greeted by her entire family standing at the doorstep just to welcome me! Feeling very special and a little overwhelmed and shy, we said goodbye to her family who left for a marriage function and went inside. Being an architecture student by heart, the first thing I noticed was the house and ofcourse wanted a tour of it but since both of us couldn't stop asking each other questions, that topic quickly went unnoticed.
Tired from all the air sickness I asked her if I could make myself a cup of coffee. Ofcourse we couldn't afford to stop talking for a second, so we skipped to the kitchen together. Her grandmom had stayed back to make sure I was comfortable. While my friend provided me with coffee and sugar and a whole lot of "thank you for coming here just to meet me"s, I mixed the coffee and sugar with a bit of water and starting mixing it to make a consistent paste, the North Indian way. This fascinated both my friend and her grandmom to such an extent that they kept peeking into my mug after every few second to see what I was trying to do!
Anyways, after that followed a bit of freshening up and some chicken biryani which came garnished with gasps of "You are going to eat only that much!". Ignoring that, we took out plates to the swing in her garden and continued our chat. We sat there for quite long discussing my now non-existent love life. After that was time for the beach.
I had been warned against the orthodox views of the Muslim community in Calicut and been instructed to wear only salwar suits or at the risk of exposing, kurtas with jeans. I discovered that Calicut was the last few cities in which we did not have to haggle with auto rickshaw walas and paid by the meter. Just as we reached the beach I was warned that it was famous for it's excreta enriched sand. Making sure we walked as carefully as possible, we very casually ignored the beach, the sea and the sand and had eyes only for each other (I know that sounds horrible but that is actually what happened, we just couldn't stop talking!). After a lot of careful walking, we got picked up by her parents and drove around the city market a bit to pick up a few things that they needed. I thought she was kidding when she said that she always bumped into someone no matter where she went, which is why she always had to behave herself in public and not be too loud or preposterous, but we actually did bump into no less than 2 families within a time span of close to an hour!
Everything was going well, I still could not actually come to believe that I was seeing her, we couldn't stop talking, I was enjoying myself, but there was just one glitch which was probably the only thing that I didn't like about the trip-Malayalam. I didn't understand it. Everybody spoke to me in Malayalam and looked at me waiting for me to answer, but ofcourse all I could do was shrug my shoulders and reply with an "I am sorry I don't understand what you are saying!"
Done with shopping, we had some ice cream and headed home and got ready to go to the grooms house for a family get together with karaoke and dinner. Excited to meet her family but a little sceptical about all the Malayalam I would have to listen to, we left home.
On reaching, I was introduced to a whole lot of people, and listened to a lot of Malayalam comments about me(nice ones ofcourse!) which had to be translated to English for me. Even in the grooms house, we couldn't stop talking. After a lot of talking, we went outside to listen to the karaoke. Surprisingly, I heard all the latest Bollywood songs being sung. Enjoying the loudness of the music which gave us an opportunity to continue our girly secret conversation, we sat there for a while.
Then came dinner time, (Safa, I still haven't forgiven you for this!). Since it was tradition that the ladies eat after the gents, we politely declined all the invitations to dinner while the gents were eating. After they finished, all family members immediately came to me and forced me to eat. Just then, my friend very conveniently left me alone because she could not eat until the ladies had started, which was infuriating because the ladies had started! Angry and feeling out of place for the first time, I quietly ate my dinner, shortly after which we left for her house. By the time we reached I was tired and irritated with her. After making myself another cup of coffee I decided to get my revenge. I had told her that I would put henna on her hands for the wedding. By the time we got home, she was so tired that she couldn't care less. Finding the perfect
opportunity for my revenge, I emotionally blackmailed her and made her sit for another hour with henna on her hands and then when I was satisfied with the punishment, we went to bed.
To be continued...
I had my part of the trip planned which included getting on the flight to Calicut and from Calicut, the rest was left upto my dear friend.
Since she was in India for a cousin's marriage scheduled for the same weekend that I was visiting for, she made it very clear in her guilt laden voice that she wouldn't be able to show me around much because we had to attend a few marriage ceremonies. Being too overwhelmed with the fact that I was actually going to see her, I didn't pay much attention. So, eager and very bewildered, I took a train to Delhi and then finally boarded the plane to Calicut which finally brought me to Calicut after 6 whole hours of nauseating air travel including 3 take-offs and 3 landings at Mumbai, Coimbatore and Calicut.
I exited the small airport fast enough to find no car waiting for me outside. After making a few calls, I finally got through to my friend and got to know that she was just 5 minutes away (which actually meant 20 minutes). The view from the airport was spectacular- green hills and valleys with lush vegetation, clouds lying close to the land and people strolling by wearing shirts and lungis. Cracking up at the very sight of men walking around with just one piece of white cloth wrapped around their waists(no offence intended, it was just very new to me!), I tried not to make it too obvious and waited. Finally she came, and thus started my tour of Calicut and the experience of a lifetime(I actually mean that).
Being a South Indian Muslim, her family members had to stop at a mosque on the way to her house to recite their Friday afternoon prayers. We couldn't stop talking! There was so much to actually talk about. Neither of us could actually believe that we were actually seeing each other! We reached home, to be greeted by her entire family standing at the doorstep just to welcome me! Feeling very special and a little overwhelmed and shy, we said goodbye to her family who left for a marriage function and went inside. Being an architecture student by heart, the first thing I noticed was the house and ofcourse wanted a tour of it but since both of us couldn't stop asking each other questions, that topic quickly went unnoticed.
Tired from all the air sickness I asked her if I could make myself a cup of coffee. Ofcourse we couldn't afford to stop talking for a second, so we skipped to the kitchen together. Her grandmom had stayed back to make sure I was comfortable. While my friend provided me with coffee and sugar and a whole lot of "thank you for coming here just to meet me"s, I mixed the coffee and sugar with a bit of water and starting mixing it to make a consistent paste, the North Indian way. This fascinated both my friend and her grandmom to such an extent that they kept peeking into my mug after every few second to see what I was trying to do!
Anyways, after that followed a bit of freshening up and some chicken biryani which came garnished with gasps of "You are going to eat only that much!". Ignoring that, we took out plates to the swing in her garden and continued our chat. We sat there for quite long discussing my now non-existent love life. After that was time for the beach.
I had been warned against the orthodox views of the Muslim community in Calicut and been instructed to wear only salwar suits or at the risk of exposing, kurtas with jeans. I discovered that Calicut was the last few cities in which we did not have to haggle with auto rickshaw walas and paid by the meter. Just as we reached the beach I was warned that it was famous for it's excreta enriched sand. Making sure we walked as carefully as possible, we very casually ignored the beach, the sea and the sand and had eyes only for each other (I know that sounds horrible but that is actually what happened, we just couldn't stop talking!). After a lot of careful walking, we got picked up by her parents and drove around the city market a bit to pick up a few things that they needed. I thought she was kidding when she said that she always bumped into someone no matter where she went, which is why she always had to behave herself in public and not be too loud or preposterous, but we actually did bump into no less than 2 families within a time span of close to an hour!
Everything was going well, I still could not actually come to believe that I was seeing her, we couldn't stop talking, I was enjoying myself, but there was just one glitch which was probably the only thing that I didn't like about the trip-Malayalam. I didn't understand it. Everybody spoke to me in Malayalam and looked at me waiting for me to answer, but ofcourse all I could do was shrug my shoulders and reply with an "I am sorry I don't understand what you are saying!"
Done with shopping, we had some ice cream and headed home and got ready to go to the grooms house for a family get together with karaoke and dinner. Excited to meet her family but a little sceptical about all the Malayalam I would have to listen to, we left home.
On reaching, I was introduced to a whole lot of people, and listened to a lot of Malayalam comments about me(nice ones ofcourse!) which had to be translated to English for me. Even in the grooms house, we couldn't stop talking. After a lot of talking, we went outside to listen to the karaoke. Surprisingly, I heard all the latest Bollywood songs being sung. Enjoying the loudness of the music which gave us an opportunity to continue our girly secret conversation, we sat there for a while.
Then came dinner time, (Safa, I still haven't forgiven you for this!). Since it was tradition that the ladies eat after the gents, we politely declined all the invitations to dinner while the gents were eating. After they finished, all family members immediately came to me and forced me to eat. Just then, my friend very conveniently left me alone because she could not eat until the ladies had started, which was infuriating because the ladies had started! Angry and feeling out of place for the first time, I quietly ate my dinner, shortly after which we left for her house. By the time we reached I was tired and irritated with her. After making myself another cup of coffee I decided to get my revenge. I had told her that I would put henna on her hands for the wedding. By the time we got home, she was so tired that she couldn't care less. Finding the perfect
opportunity for my revenge, I emotionally blackmailed her and made her sit for another hour with henna on her hands and then when I was satisfied with the punishment, we went to bed.
To be continued...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Just a bad day...
Today would possibly be one of the worst days of my life... High fever combined with cold and cough and weakness coupled with the departure of my parents and siblings after an entire month or so of being with me here. Couldn't get much worse could it? Well apparently it could. A good friend of mine called up and asked to go out to dinner. Desperate to get some fresh air and relief from mess food, I immediately agreed.
On our way to the restaurant we lost our way no less than two times and the journey which should have otherwise taken about 15 minutes, ended up taking us 40 minutes. The restaurant we were headed to was under renovation. They were serving food in a small dingy room with plastic tables with torn table cloths and wobbly chairs. Too exhausted and frustrated to find any other place, we sat and ordered. The food was allright and overall the meal could have been much worse.
Just as we exited the building, it started pouring. It was 9 p.m. and my hostel curfew was 8:30! We waited for a few minutes, hoping that the rain would stop or atleast reduce, but ofcourse it didn't. Since I didn't want to have to listen to my warden's screaming, I chose to head out in the rain. After all, how bad could it be?
Turns out, it can be really bad. The rain stung my face as we drove as slowly as possible to our college. By the time we reached we were completely drenched. Ever since I have been back, I have been sneezing. And just when I thought, it really cannot get much worse than this, I was informed by one of my classmates that we have to submit an assignment tomorrow that I had not even started on. So here I am, still a little wet, with a drippy nose, a pulsating headache, ever-increasing body temperature, writing on my blog, thinking about how I am actually going to start working on my assignment...Welcome to my life! :)
On our way to the restaurant we lost our way no less than two times and the journey which should have otherwise taken about 15 minutes, ended up taking us 40 minutes. The restaurant we were headed to was under renovation. They were serving food in a small dingy room with plastic tables with torn table cloths and wobbly chairs. Too exhausted and frustrated to find any other place, we sat and ordered. The food was allright and overall the meal could have been much worse.
Just as we exited the building, it started pouring. It was 9 p.m. and my hostel curfew was 8:30! We waited for a few minutes, hoping that the rain would stop or atleast reduce, but ofcourse it didn't. Since I didn't want to have to listen to my warden's screaming, I chose to head out in the rain. After all, how bad could it be?
Turns out, it can be really bad. The rain stung my face as we drove as slowly as possible to our college. By the time we reached we were completely drenched. Ever since I have been back, I have been sneezing. And just when I thought, it really cannot get much worse than this, I was informed by one of my classmates that we have to submit an assignment tomorrow that I had not even started on. So here I am, still a little wet, with a drippy nose, a pulsating headache, ever-increasing body temperature, writing on my blog, thinking about how I am actually going to start working on my assignment...Welcome to my life! :)
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