skyline

i stole this image from www.denver.org...

but isnt it just a beautiful image of the city?

back home? or something like that!!!

yes it was break time : thanksgivin time : time to visit family : and i did just that.

well break's over now - back to denver - tht is surprisingly colder than ever- and interestingly it was wayyyy warmer in michigan.

i dont have much to say yet -

had a restful break and gettin into the work groove is a little tough right now.

so as I try really hard to get into the routine here is one more interesting one liner:

"What is time? It is a secret - lacking in substance and yet almighty."

-Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain. "

a lil something

this was the 'punch' line for an upcoming movie - i cant remember the name of the movie... but this lil one liner did stick in my head:

'sometimes the largest distance to be covered is that between two people'

now my two cents to this:

'sometimes the largest distance is also too small to come inbetween two people.'

...

yes its been a long time considering my latest 'blogging' pace... but I have nothin to say -
especially today -
if you dont mind listening to me crib, here goes -

its a horrible monday - was a hectic weekend- a horrible horibble throat- leavin me with everything that ranges from a cold to headache to a fever and to top it all- the reason for me blogging in the middle of the day - a horribly intense day at work for a monday:( and unrealistic deadlines - unreasonable clients.

the brighter side: its a 3 day week remember? :)

I JUST SAW ANDRE AGASSI...

.. on a normal wednesday aftertoon - with my lunch bought from paradize bakery in my hand I was waitin for the elevator in the office building lobby - I suddenly saw andre agassi walk past me in the lobby with someone else. I wondered whether it was really him or just some one dressed in all balck leather who I thought looked like him.

running up to my desk to google 'andre agassi- denver' - so here is what I found:

http://www.denverpost.com/tourism/ci_4394610

the story goes: post -tennis, agassi is gettin into real esate. He and steffi graff ,have joined hands with Exclusive Resorts to develop new luxury resort communities.

and Exclusive resorts in denver bases and has their office in the same building as ours: tht is how I REALLY ran into him.

i think that was a real PLEASANT SURPRISE on a normal work day -
and to also learn that in the middle of a cold sunny afternoon I WASNT DREAMIN after all.

memories...

have u noticed this connector in the Wrigley building while walkin on Michigan ave, Chicago ?

prob not - cos at this moment u r gettin ready for the soon to come breath takin view of the city along the river...

moma

... light that changes path.

...space... that is complete only with the void.

.. a picture that is actually incomplete...

can u guess why?

nike run

- just felt like puttin up something really stupid- so here is a pic of my new Nike run shoes.... they r not stupid at all :)

on a tired day... i long for the sea!

after a long stressful work day you often long to go and relax by nature - for me it is the SEA - the water I really really long for. I was never a mountain person but living in colorado is quite an experience- comin across people who love their mountains- experiencing the pleasure of proximity to the mountains- and now with my new project even workin in the context of the mountains. As every other experience, no doubt I am enjoying all this too. but in the heart of all this lies a person who really really loves the sea - who wants to go after a tired working day and find solace in the sound of the waves- feel the sea-breeze and feel the salt on the skin.
- even to the extent of workin in the context of the sea
- to drive, walk along the sea

having grown up in bombay I took it for granted- but there are times now when I feel land locked -

I want to live where you can say the land ends or begins :)

addendum: the reason for this post: I feel like I dont understand the mountains _ I dont belong to them- I dont know them- I cant design for them- I feel disconnected from the context - I look for references and seem to understand the ones by the sea way better. Guess cos of my struggle with not being able to work with the mountain context comfortably I will never be able to find solace in them again - they intimidated me just cos of their intensity- now they do cos I cant even look through them and understand them. I feel horrible : context matters to me and I have to try hard to understand this one :(

transcending cultures...

this weekend I saw the new Umrao jaan- anticipatin it to be a borin movie with nothin but abhishek bachan to look at I was not expectin much. The movie was ordinary- but the story of umrao (a tawaif), half an hour into the movie reminded me of 'memoirs of a geisha'.
and all along (amidst the thousand mediocre song- dance sequences) there were glimpses of a geisha in the story.

I didnt know the story of Umrao Jaan at all - it was surely interesting to learn about this exact same parallel almost on the other side of the world.

are you fat? probably cos you live in the suburbs

http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=e3932c7a-0a97-4b94-8fcd-1516ea86cfe1&k=17723&p=1

so if you are obese dont blame it on anything else - but the place u live- the architects/planners who throw the cities/lifestyles at u :)

whats up?

... craft on the ceiling...















... Herzog de meuron at work at the Walker arts center!

and ofcourse, one important thing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIDI... MISS U!

zaha

http://heritage.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1396&id=1587412006

in my daily archnews -newsletter I came aross a very interesting article about 'THE WOMAN' hereself- zaha hadid.

though the people think both she and her work is crazy and overhyped there are many things about her which fascinate me - maybe its the whole bias about 'women in architectre'....

A couple of reasons I found this article interesting: describes not her work but her amusing ways of working and living and also some instances about being famous

- how people(read women and critics) react to her fame, work and lifestyle.

and most interestingly it is written by another woman- of indian origin for the 'architecture section' of 'scotland on sunday' -

... so this one to all women who love their professions more than anything else!!!

presenting...

...the smile of the year...











(dont miss the lil name on the dress)

when the thought is pure it can be expressed in all simplicity: just like this simple song:

Aa chal ke tujhe, main le ke chaluun
ik aise gagan ke tale
jahan gam bhii na ho, aansoo bhi na ho
bas pyaar hii pyaar pale

Suraj ki pahali kiran se, aashaa kaa savera jaage
chandaa kii kiraN se dhul kar, ghanaghor andhera bhaage kabhi dhuup khile kabhi chhaav mile
lambii sii Dagar na khale
jahan gam bhi na ho, aansoo bhi na ho
bas pyaar hi pyaar pale
ik aise gagan ke tale

Jahan door nazar daud aae, aazaad gagan laharaae laharaee
jahan rang birange panchhi, aashaa kaa sandesaa laayen
sapano me pali hansati ho kali
jahan shaam suhaani dhale
jahan gam bhi na ho, aansoo bhi na ho
bas pyaar hi pyaar pale
ik aise gagan ke tale

Sapano Ke aise jahan mein jahan pyaar hi pyaar khila ho
hum jaa ke vahan kho jaaye shikuva na koyi ghila ho
kahin bhair na ho koyi ghair na ho
sab milke chalte chale
jahan gam bhi na ho aansoo bhi na ho
bas pyaar hi pyaar pale

f l a v o r s

Flavors- the abcd movie- was a good movie - but more than that I really like the sound track- been with me for a while now.

found something funny in it: there is a song which goes like " take life like it is"...

it has a line : 'dont go desi on me dude... if you could you would... take life like it is. '

what does tht mean? tht we desis dont take life like it is?

why? is it true?