Rang de Basanti

Rang de Basanti is sure a must see...

and not for one reason but several...

the starcast
the storyline
the cinematography
the actors... aamir khan rocks no doubt.. but this siddharth(playing karan) takes the cake ... n to top it he is hot too
the presentation and narration
the music
...almost everything ( discount the length of the movie though)

the thought... rise for one's cause..doesnt matter who you are... if u believe u shall... n how!!!

i am gonna have to stop here ... cos I have been warned not to say much by gav since he hasnt seen the movie yet ..so i shall be an obedient girl!!! but if you havent seen a good hindi movie in a while, here is one which that wont disssapoint.

in the first half for sure..second half wasnt appreciated by all as much though i love it.

update

life has pretty much been ordinary since I got back from Bombay... it feels like been put into heaven for a few days n then brought back to hell... nothing excitig happening off late on my front except the weekend of Sameer's birthday with gav chanda n sameer. went to the detroit auto show..shall post some pictures.. i liked it.

the cars were nice n all..but i really liked the sets. i couldnt help but notice people glaring at me when they caught me clicking details of the set designs when every camera was focused on those cars... i think i even embarrased gaurav on that front once:)

its friday evening. i am in school.thts a good thing... but not a good thing when i realise its just the beginning of the semester. looking forward to an intense semester.


hope to join my friends for dinner at TGIF in a couple of hours!!!

SLEEEEEEEEEPPPPP is all i want

...so my sem ended last evening.

... i finally got home way before the routine 4-5 am.

... i slept for 9 + hours... n still feeling sleepy!!!

... at this moment i wish i could sleep in the afternoons. sleep is on my mind and on my eyes but i just cant get my self to sleep in the middle of the day. so annoying. n thats why the 'crib filled' blog at 2.30pm

of good times

Amidst the whole craziness of work and the excitement of goin back to India soon is something which I really feel sad about... and what else but change most affects the human mind.

As I see Niki getting ready to leave..her packing all around the house it is suddenly sinking in that what 'family' was for the past one n half years is not gonna be the same.

I am not goin to shy away from saying that I am really gonna miss her and it is affecting me in many ways.

N then in a way I am glad about that cos that means the ability to miss people and not accepting change easily is still with me. Thought I was losing it!!!

So this ones to all the good times in the past one n half year!!!

K's frustrated?

May be a stupid question but I have always wondered does a good designer have to be a good craftsman? are the abilties of designing representating well enough to convey and capacities to get something crafted enough to complete his definion? does his capacity to himself execute the act have to be included to complete the definition?

I personally belong to the first category

The way my work has shaped in the last few months made me realise sitting on the drawing board or in front of fancy softwares and desiginging/representing/working out something is sure an exercise but not a complete one: the amount of thought and time in execution is a surely one hell of a task.. i wonder how it is to understand someone elses work and execute it.

Maybe as an archtiect I wont necessarily need the prowess of execution in the longer run...hopefully once my academic life(as a student ofcourse) is over.
Does that apply to more pure yet applied forms of art...scuplture, jewellery, fashion etc?

all this will i am trying hard to float on the surface and not drown in the work load... waiting for the month end:)

Stress is in the air

Everyone around me looks completely harrowed and stressed out..wonder why..its tht last lap of the semester... 3 weeks to go.

there is joy of only three weeks to go and then there is realisation in tht very minute about the amount of work to be done in those three weeks.

somehow i feel my fittest best when i am stressed and i know i hv loads of work to get done... i like that pleasure in pain feeling!!! :)

...and it shall last!!!

Its been a while since I have put up anything. sometimes cos I didnt have time, sometimes cos I didnt feel like... but its that time of the year which you just cannot miss...

once again I look out to a white blanket. I know it'll last for long..but its just so pretty right now.

Standing in the snow for two hours this morning was no fun...

but gettin back to the warmth... its so different this time... :)

"When we finally kissgoodnight

How I'll hate going out in the storm!

But if you'll really hold me tight

All the way home I'll be warm

The fire is slowly dying

And, my dear, we're still goodbying

But as long as you love me so

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"

of cravings

I crave right now...


1.to be at home and eat sabudana khichdi or pohe for breakfast!!!... am sick of a waffle and cereal breakfast
2.for shoppin in bombay... so so so so very badly right now
3.for junk food off the streets( hmm almost)... pani puri and spring dosa!!! and oily chinese!!! aaahhh
4.for an i-pod
5.and a new digi cam...

its funny how the list progressively changed to the materialistic

INDIAAAAAAAAA...AAAAAH

ok i just blogged a few minutes ago... but I so have to write this right now. (so read the previous one first to get the link)

i came back form the 'bombay exhibit' in the gallery space...


just to remind u that the exhibit was in ' an architecture school' and not any part gallery or soemthing...

the contents of the exhibit....

1. tandoori chicken and samosa...both deformed... but a great attempt!!!
2. monsoon wedding being screened on a tv
3. bunty aur bubli being screened on a tv
4. a video about the squatters and random people walkin on the road
5. several sarees.... hanging form the top
4. pottery and mirror work and other 'artifacts'...which u as a 'foreigner' just cannot skip on colaba causeway
5. chappals and junk jewellery sold by the same guy outside mondy's(cafe mondegar) for 1/10th of the price that shamli and I used to buy it for.

So how many of you think the entire essence of India was captured? well thats not easy a task... but still!!!

Overheards " oh isnt that THE BIG SUPER MALL"... thats about 'crossroads'..didnt we leave that one behind ages ago?

" 'bombay store'... I loved that place... have never seen anythin more beautiful ..blah blah.. "

and finally wine... i dont knowwhere that came from..may be desi daru would have been a better fit...

Well that was about what was on display..am not gonna be judgemental about this scenario..but am extreemly amused to say the least!!!

only one thing kept ringing in my ears... this audio I had heard on "INDIAAAAA" in a sultry trying to be deeeep voice describing India some many years ago... it was as though the whole exhibit was shouting out the samething to me in that exact same voice.

A declaration and concern

I have to admit that about two weeks ago my blogs were becomin more and more depressing leaving a lot of people wondering as to whats goin on...i think i finally figured it out today...
what i would call the architect's version of the 'writer's block'...

i was gettin bogged down so much so that I began to even debate my career choice... i was more than over worked but was just not happy with what was comin out of it...maybe i was pushin myself too hard!!!

I am never satisfied with my work is a given... but this was a completely different feelin ... and am so glad am out of it now.

it was a feelin of being at the completely wrong place... but I guess like all other things this one too fell in place... and I know as a 100 percent track record that every architect goes thru this 'feeling' and that too frequently... anyway thats tht.

there is wierd korean couple in the desk behind me right now....the wife keeps squeekingly complaining about every damn thing it seems like.. wierd noises is all i can gather of the whole scenario behind my back

another thing which is on my mind off late is this overdose of 'exotic india' 'incredible india' imagery which is floating in my school...thanks to atleast a dozen out of 80 people having visited bombay-delhi-agra in the past 5 months... and yelling out the word 'bombay' in the studio in that oh so typical accent atleast a dozen times in the day.

i am glad and sad too... glad about the awareness yes... but its all the same old redundant awareness...

of exotic sadhus,oh so pretty fabrics,(these fake silk sarees are hanging down in the corridor and people who are not meant to look nice in salwar khameez' are wearing jsut that) homelessness, diversity( in costume?), chat and blah blah...

i totally agree that its a great thing that these guys are gettin exposed to the 'contemporary indian culture' but why yet in the 'exotic india way?' why dont we just project the image of a real contemporary india....

whtever... i am goin to hog on the 'bombay food' apparently which is a part of the exhibit.

Happy Diwali

an eventful weekend just passed by...away from books and work and studio...

and loads of fun!!!

it all began with a girls evening out to 'dominicks'... sangria time!!! followed by an unsuccesful attempt tht evening to watch iqbal...ending up in a round of truth or dare..or rather truth and truth...hadnt played that game for yrs...

a lazy saturday morning... brunch on 'zingerman's' sandwiches...its one of my favorite places in ann arbor.
the afternoon was well spent watching 'fight club'...i dont know why I hadnt seen such a wondeful movie yet!

Halloween party time on Saturday evening.... at the 'heidelberg'- followed by witnessing some pumpin carving and falling asleep to ghost stories!!!

Sunday was the most eventful day of all though.... it was 'our wine- n dine-' ' diwali-halloween-id' party... characterised by an exotic meal we cooked for ourselves coupled with a variety of yummy wines!!!! it would be a sin to not post pics of this party.... so a picture post coming up soon.

As promised...

...ignore the straight face and dark circles... thts cos of a cumulative of 10 hours of sleep over 4 nights!!!

but I love that feelin of exhaustion due to intense work.. that strain on the eyes...the anticipation of a sound sleep... it all resonates 'satisfaction'- especially when the work has been fun and stimulating...

getting more specific... when u think you design and thought is finally getting somewhere where you want it to go.

Random Moi

The week rushed by almost at the speed of light.

The weather is changing.... its become awfully cold already!!! the trees are at their prettiest best... changing color by the hour!!!

Was a heavy week so far at school... mid term exams and couple of reviews.

Diwali is round the corner... i totally miss the ritual of 'diwali' shopping... i think I shall try and not break the tradition:)

I already have a wish list though..if anyone volunteering to obidge I shall disclose my 'gifts wanted' list.

I went and got my self a hair cut this evening... not anything drastic...i like it... will post a picture as soon as I take one.

So much for the ramble...hope I have something worthwhile to contribute soon!!!

REFRESHED

So none of my wishes obviously came true...fall break is over n am back in AA...

but feel totally refreshed... didnt get much work done over the weekend.

I dont regret it at all though...

shall work harder in the coming weeks!!!

Making a wish

... for fall break to never get over...

... for all my ties in ann arbor be brought to me here in Champaign...

...the feeling of feeling at home to last forever...


SELFISH ME!!! hahahaha!!!

Designer= expensive?

Why is something that can be remotely qualified as good architecture for a home always unaffordable?

Recently a friend of mine looking for a new house called me up all excited about buying a new house in some suburb here- to my surprise she was talking about a nice contemporary minimalist'ish' looking LoFt...well out of the conventional real-estate ugly lookin developers realm...

I myself was completely excited about it!!!
but just yesterday I heard the plan fizzled out... cos the Loft turned out to be more expensive for the size and place ocmpared to rest of mediocrity floating all around.

I just feel bad how a 'designer' label shoots up the cost of every thing right from a small piece of clothing, jewellry, furniture or even a house!!! :(

PLACES

Have you ever looked down upon the stars?

I loved the feeling of flying in a tiny plane...on my flight from Detroit to Champaign... this lil plane which didn’t fly very high in the sky...told me a new story... a story of density- told not by people or by landscape but by the lights... the lights which shimmered at intervals... suddenly gathering close... indicating life... suddenly sparse- when away form civilization. Streaks of light...just like comets... in reality vehicles on the road!!! Flying as an act is one that brings about disconnection of the highest degree to me... but this one still kept me close to civilization...at least visually... as was so much fun.. .as i derived a whole new story from what I saw of everyday life... but just from a different perspective and a different actor telling the story....

So I am in Champaign on my fall break... YIPPPEEE!!!!

I have been on this major travel spree... last weekend our studio went to Minneapolis for a field trip. It was a lot of work but AWESOME fun!... the high light being seeing a Herzog de Meuron ( the walker arts center), a Jean Nouvel(Guthrie theatre), Raplh Rapson work...and actually meeting him in person... was so great to see an absolute modernist of his time(91 today)... Also visited a Saarinen church and saw one more Gehry building- don’t know how I feel about that one though. My flickr has pictures of Minneapolis!!! (People less but a feast for the eye). I liked the city. Is a small big city yet holding on to its character!

The week before that was also characterized by day trips in various parts of Michigan and Ohio...so essentially in the past 3 weeks I have visited four mid-western states- Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Minnesotta coupled with tons of work at school too and a couple of party scenes adding to the drama!

Happy Dassera

Chocolate party

I am entertaining myself a little in the middle of a long reading... a visual treat.. pics from the chocolate party last thursday.

YUMMY ISNT IT? look at all the greedy souls waiting for the picture taking part to get over fast and get to the real thing.

YIPPEEEE

a boring day.. or rather week..or month... filled with work just got livened up with a nice 'lemony' surprise...
i loved the feeling of seein a parcel note at my door step - least expecting it..n then even better when u see a NICE BIG packet... labelled GAP on it...

so welcome fall... with my bright yellow fall jacket!!! thanks g!!!

Whats up ?

The weather is changing and fall is just around the corner.... suddenly in a day trees around are beginning to change color.

life for me right now is pretty colorless... nothin much but work happening!!!
n I am suffering from 'withdrawal symptoms' of not having much to do over summer.. n thus in a a 'cribby' mood about everyhing around.

To liven up my mood I put up some pics of some tp models we made in studio... I liked the pics only!!!

N i feel like cribbing about absolutely everythingggggg.

N i feel better already

Isnt it wonderful to see those streaks of light sharply cutting through a series of cluds after a rain shower..i feel the same right now

as the weather took this turn today so did my mood ...

My previous blog was absoultely gloomy n i felt sad... so why the mood change... i just saw the brighter side of a few things i cribbed about in my prev blog-

N what helped- some thinking on my own n lotsa pampering!!! doesnt tht always work!!!

N everything seems wrong!!!

Studio lottery happens at the beginning of every term... u get to choose the prof. u wanna work under for the whole semester after seeing a series of presentations by various profs....u rank them in terms of ur preference, n as rumor goes u generally get your first or second choice n trust me ... of all the six presentations... i didnt even like one

they all sucked so bad this time...

none was worth while!!!

N to my misery I have got my third choice... aaah!!!! has got something to do with 'design-build' i dont like design-build at all!!! :( .. i dont know how i am gonna survive through this

so thts my first reason to sulk!!!

My comp is not workin for the past three days n is in the process of gettin back to life..

so thts my second reason to sulk!!!

The other course that I HAVE to take this semster are boring core courses... aaaahhhh...

so my third reason to sulk leaves me with almost nothing to look forward to on the work front!!!

This post is a warning and a request... to people around me to forgive me if u find me sulkin n grumpy all the time...
( the concerned party am sure has already foreseen the temper tantrums)

Coming Back to Life

So summer is over and its time for classes tomorrow.

I didnt have any plans for Labor Day weekend but with Gaurav having visited it was a lotttt of fun!!!

We managed to do quite a few things over the weekend here in Ann Arbor...the weather having blessed us all too!!!

N now the party seems to be all over!!!

Check my flickr account for lotsa new snaps.

its me blabbering

the weather for the past couple of days has been the best ever in AA

summer is almost over n school begins next week

u cannot take any relationship for granted

it is difficult when someone u care for suddenly says its not necessary to understand everything thts going on.

its worse when u r made to feel tht a friendship is governed only by ur acts!!!

Restlessness is the biggest enemy of the state of mind

I had a nice bonus weekend in UIUC

the labor day weekend is round the corner n many have elaborate plans... i dont have many!!!

I have missed home like never before... for reasons I dont understand

its been the year of engagements n marraiges...all most all my friends are ready to tie the knot. thts prob what happens when u r 25.

it sucks the most when u know what you want n just cant get it right now.( this seemslike an almost 'all time' case)

enough of non-sense. this post has been my most non-specific n useless one ever.

i promise to do better from now on

Its exactly a year today since I left home for Ann Arbor!!!

Happy Independence Day

58 years and it already feels like so long ago...

Has the country gotten over the Colonial raj torture so easily?

or has it simply moved on for good?

Anyway Happy Indepedence Day India

Photos

I suddenly had too many photos from this trip to put on my blog..so i finally decided to get a flickr account and put up a link to all my pictures... find it on the bottom left hand corner of my blog.

As an architect by profession n like some people say most of my pictures are 'peopleless'...of structures n places, I have also put up a few pictures of people.

1.NYC

So New York is to the USA what Mumbai is to India... minus a few things and plus a many more things.

the last two days have been extremely busy!!! not with work but in NYC!!! the city is huge; fast; dirty; crowded; dazzling; selfish; difficult; addictive;...n so much more!!! It did amaze me... but not quite.

I want to write to so much more but I am exhausted from a really long long day of train n ferry rides,lots n lots of walking...n greattt places visited!!!

I am sure my next few blogs to come will be pictures of NYC...so I shall leave this for later n just go to sleep after a realllyy tiring yet funfilled day!!!

a side note...bombay has almost everything tht new york offers... but bombay as a city does not know how to sell itself.its as selfish as new york is but we just havent gone all the way to shout out TIMES SQUARE

I do like new york. n i feel one cannot compare NYC n Chicago...more on this later too. me dozing off!!!

A bonus day in Chicago- dated 8th Aug 05

Us and the skyline reflecting in the bean-designed by Anish Kapoor at the millenium park, Chicago



On magnificent mile...

I feel sad!!!

the hoarding in the background says...'time for buying a new home?'
... as though they anticipated the fate of mumbai in times to come... the picture surely indicates buying new cars for the owners of these submerged vehicles!!!

Sketch-Up

My past couple of blogs have been some of my favorite pictures... n this one surely fits into the list!!!

Its one of those sketch-up images of RIA and I taken at the food mall on the mumbai-pune expressway!!!

Nostalgia2; Friday night fun; n Viruddha

this is one of my favourite pictures of the four of us... taken last year on my birthday... the date is screwed up for some reason.

comin back to the present...the weekend till now turned out to be quite eventful!!!

Parag's graduation... Dr. Parag now; - was celebrated on Friday evening by going to 'california pizza kitchen' then bowling n then some chattin n lil drinking in 3036- sleeping eventually at 3 am- resulting into an absoultely lazy saturday... only managing to get out of the house at 8.30pm when we all went for

Viruddha...
On the whole I would say its a nice movie. but a little unreasonably bollywood at times. Amitabh's performance and some good scenes surely deserve a mention.(But he doesnt look maharashtrian one bit!) Anushka Dandekar was a pleasant surprise. John Abraham- wasted. Sharmila Tagore was not bad too. The movie has the potential to come out as a bold film with a strong plot n narration; but it just seems to have lost focus on quite a few nodes leavin it unconvincing at quite a few places.

Nostalgia

I found this pic on my comp today... just remembering the fun times on all the weekend pune trips...

This one was the july 04 before I left for Ann Arbor last year.

Hope we all get back together soon!!!

a random me!!!

The names shall remain undisclosed but the concerned individual(S)
shall realise what this is about

How would you feel if your best friend suddenly has a 'new' friend .. who is exposing him to all 'stupid cute things' that friends apparently do for friends... n my dear friend doesnt seem to be uncomfortable with the extra dose of mush?

Anyway the point being out of experience I truly believe that the most deceptive n short lived relationships are the ones where one gets too close too fast!!!

I hope thou shall remember that!!!

its raining back home

In the past few years I dont remember such a heavy downpour having disrupted daily life in bombay so much that people are forced to just be in the place where they are... I just got a call from home only to learn that the rains have just taken over the city completely... my dad my sis n whole of his office including little ria who happened to just visit the office this afternoon are stuck at the workplace for the night thanks to knee deep water outside the office... and no trains for the staff to go home.


no electricity at home!!!! aaaaah!!!!

But sitting away right now I do miss the madness that the rains in Mumbai always bring along...

Ann Arbor Art Fair

The Ann Arbor Art fair is held every year in the month of July.. its a huge street festival which extends almost all of downtown Ann Arbor.



A plethora of artists' works from all over the country and some from abroad too display their art work... both for appreciation and sale (which one cant surely think of right now atleast)

I liked some of the exhibits... especially in the category of sculpture, photography and glass!!!







I love street fairs n festivals.. i love the energy that is present in these public spaces... it just shows how much people mean to a place!!! On my first visit to the art fair I was sad that all these wonderful pieces of art were exhibited only in plain white tents... just making the fair a monotonous walk not exciting enough for the common man... but when I went there the second time on a Friday evening... the people, their movement, their acitivty, their energy, random performances, food and ofcourse the commercial aspect of art..where they sold popular items (clothes, jewellery, books etc) for cheaper than usual did surely give me the feel of Bazaar street... but ofcourse nothing like the life which is born out of our streets in Mumbai ... Mohammed Ali road, Colaba Causeway, D.N.Road, Linking Road,Hill road, .. they are cultures in them selves!!!! and all year round mind you!!!! ( yes yes I cannot get bombay out of my head)


N thats why I feel sad when I see people craving for such culture, character .. n trying to 'create' them in their public space... I told one of my professors the other day that this art fair was too organised and just not chaotic enough for my liking!!!

But nevertheless it is surely a treat to see the whole place transformed the way it did for four days and get back to normal as I walked on the same streets today as though nothing ever happened. I really had a lot of fun!!!! And extremely remarkable to see how well co-ordinated the whole event was!!!

Manchester Chicken Broil

On Thursday evening we headed out to a village called Manchester, half an hour from Ann Arbor... on the third thursday of July every year they host the
Manchester Chicken Broil... so each of us had

1/2 chicken grilled
raddish
coleslaw
bread
n chips

the picture gives u the detailed info.

Apparently every year the number of people visiting this village this evening is seven times the number of people living in the village.

A question

This relationship of the old to the new is inevitable… it has to exist in order to make a successful architecture… in order to have cities rich in character!!! I don’t like Singapore. What makes Euope interesting? An amalgamation of its rich cultural past and its present showing the promise of a great future…

It is a shame how in India we either completely disregard our past and aim to ape the west under the pretext of globalization giving into faceless glass blocks in our failed attempt to not let go off the past reproduce or rather ‘try’ to reproduce the glory of the past.

We don’t want a Shanghai or a Singapore. Neither do we want just a Taj Mahal to be iconic of our built environment for several years. Can we have a Bilbao?

Do we have an answer?

To begin with can u think of one contemporary building in India iconic of our times?


(this one was written a ew days ago.. just put it up now.. doesnt make any sense to me right now thou. i ll put it up anyway)

The Law Library and Angel hall are two buildings chosen together primarily for the reason that one of them already has an existing extension to it and a proposal for the extension of the other .

What interests me is how these extensions though are absolutely manifestations of the contemporary sit well within the existing setting... complementing but not overpowering nor overshadowed by the existing buildings.

This brought me to an interesting thought. Isn’t it more challenging to design around the existing and also adaptive reuse ? A complete ‘tabula-rasa’ has nothing exciting about it all right?

I love the way how both these new extensions stand out for themselves, do not have direct symbolic reference of their parent buildings.

Law Library




reflecting in the new!



distorting the old?


an interior view

Angel Hall




The existing!!!



Extension to art museum by Angel Hall... the acrylic case of the model spoilt the image.

Art n Architecture Building

Summer is probably the only time when one can peacefully walk around in ann arbor not worrying about getting into an enclosed space to get away from the cold…

So I thought I could do something worthwhile n post pictures of Ann Arbor over my next few posts

To begin with it shall be a partial picture of the TCAUP-the Art and Architecture Building

The next in line would be the Angel Hall and Law Quad...

Just a thought!!!

out of the blue...

Are you an outright pessimist?

Or an absolute optimist?

I SO am a pessimist... I would go ahead n proclaim that IT IS the thing that drives me the most... I cannot appreciate optimism for more than a minute...

but Now I shall tell you why that worked for me... cos my boy friend is an ABSOLUTE OPTIMIST... I know I can think speak n almost live negative cos my betterhalf will surely surely point out the brighter side to me ...even if its just to make me feel nice!!!

Ah yes.. n the optimism works for him probably too cos I am always sittin on his head to curb it the next moment!!!

lazyhead

I am back from Mumbai... N i dont feel like blogging...

trying hard to think of something to write about.

I got to ann arbor after a unexpectedly long journey characterised by delayed flights n long long waits.

coming back to the US meant a completely different note this time...

an amazing feelin to meet gaurav here in ann arbor and show him around my school and the lovely cozy town.

the weekend was loads of fun at mackinaw island with himani sameer and gaurav... the mackinaw bridge is beautiful... the city quaint... and the island very european... the lake a lovely blue and extremely cold!!!

other highlights of the weekend...watchin charita's weddin cd with 'family' here..:) and cookin with gav for the first time ever!!!

now back to ann arbor n feelin extremely lazy to do anything at all!!!

Apple

NO, this one's not about an i-pod!

Its about a restaurant called apple in Bandra... we went there for dinner today

archit pd, sonu abhay, mehul n i!!!

Inspite of being one of those 'ambient lighting, fancy furniture, poor concept,' pseudo interiors... desparetly trying to create an identity, the food was good- continental; n a good bar and for some reason an unlimited supply of bread rolls with flavored dips!!!

They have a cake shop too called 'apple cake'; kartik claims that it is as good as oven fresh..but i dont agree one bit!!! i strongly believe 'ovenfresh' has the best pastries and desserts in mumbai!

Though u know the funny part about this restaurant 'apple' was- they had an apple kept on every table (reminded me of that funny short story from darna mana hain); n for some reason they put apple in our drinks- sangrias!!!

sangria is actually cold drink made out of wine with brandy, fruit juice and soda right? for some reason this one had wine- tequlla-vodka water n apple pieces!!!
(or so he said-cos the alcohol seemed to be almost missing)

Do u miss that breeze?

A gush of wind
A moment of happiness

Fading away
Bringing upon a sudden sadness

Searching for that wind again
Searching for that moment

Will it ever come again?
Will it last?

Longing to be in its arms
Looking for answers to questions it left behind!

Do I wish that moment shouldnt have happened at all?
Do I wish I can forget it all?
DO I wish I can move on ?
Do I wish to be where I am?

Its red again!

Once again I colored my hair red!!!

But this time its so different

Reasons:

1. I no longer have straightened hair ... its wavy now
more like the shabby look or as i call it ' the bhangi look'...which I was longing for!!!

2. The red is so much more brighter RED ... (the last time it was wella...those colors are mild; this time its l'oreal... those are brighter n deeper apparently)

N why red again?
copper n bronze i thought were too mild.
blue n purple.. i didnt dare to go all the way!!!
So I settled for the red!!! I fear its too 'jhatak' itself thou!

I am not sure if both of the above are things to be happy about!!!

Cos i really dont know if the previous color n style looked better!!! but who cares!!!

But yes I shall wait for reactions n then decide!!!

Do u feel better now?

Just felt like staring at something that makes me feel happier and lighter...

Blue is surely not a happy colo(U)r

N so The CHANGE!!!

Whats your colo(U)r this season?

searching...

Its not just about the place after all.
It surely is about the people...
Its not the same any more!

I do not know where I wanna be right now
I do not know what I wanna do!

I do know that there is more than one place I wanna be at one time!
I do wish for another me!

Why do i always wanna be somewhere else?

Ah Finally...

It is that Sunday morning when the rain gods have finally blessed and the monsoon's here hopefully to stay

I love the feeling of getting up to a cloudy sky and the smell of wet earth!!!

The whole city just seemed to liven up last afternoon when dark clouds and thunder were followed by few heavy showers.

It took me back to the days when getting wet in the first rain was a ritual for us. One shower and all the kids in the building would be down jumping and running around in that dirty ‘chikhal’… wonder what fun it was!

This used to happen just about a couple of weeks before the schools would reopen… thats like in the 1st week of June. And now we are praying for the rains in almost the third week of June… how I miss the rains…also for those nice heavy rainy days when one couldnt make it to school thanks to flooded roads and slow paced trains.

Hey I saw ‘Batman Begins’ yesterday. I liked the movie. Just thought there were a few assumptions and abrupt jumps in the sequence for a movie based on the birth of Batman- the legend

I Am ExTREMeLy IrRITaTED RiGhT NoW !!!

Of cutting chai and college

…as the title goes its not so much about the cutting chai, or the number of year spent in college. It more about the endless battle between where academics want to take us and where the profession is heading. At a point almost wanting to conclude a wrong career choice n feeling absolutely defeated in this rutt of what is called ‘practice’ I finally feel a little better to see some more people sailing in the same boat. What is inspiring though is a ray of hope ; a lesson learnt that small steps can surely make a change.

Prof. Upasani, a teacher who I shall never forget for having shaped a lot of my thinking and outlook towards the profession and academics. A conversation with him today brought back to me that it is not about running away as much as being a part of the system and creating a path by being a part of it.

A plethora of insensitive people striding through the glory of money and fame reigning at the expense of superficiality. A handful pedagogical voices trying to make a difference- fading away in the struggle to be heard. There has to be a mid- way!!!

At this juncture comes a perfect gift from a friend who has never failed to put ‘that smile’ on my face. A book –Bombay Meri Jaan –writings on Mumbai; and rightly so ; this is the place I know the most; I belong to and shall come back to give it my share.

Incidentally on my last birthday he gifted me ‘The Inscrutable Americans’- apt for the times then and now a book on Mumbai- at a time when I was beginning to feel choked in the city (wrongly so) that defines me the most.

Thanks a lot– it surely is a dear friendship ‘incorruptible’ by time and space – a fresh as the ‘wonderwall’

Parineeta

Based in Calcutta of the 60s the movie with its treatment and detail sort of begins to feel like a good film only to realize towards the end, just like in Devdas, the director is carried away to make a ‘Bollywood’ film taking glamour and drama to unnecessary unconvincing levels.

The treatment surely makes it worth watching once.

I liked Saif Ali Khan and Divya Balan; she fits the role well But a complete disaster is Sanjay Dutt who seems more like the father of the girl he is suppose to marry. I don’t know why he acts at all!!!

Now I wanna see Mr. And Mrs. Smith. Heard the movie is ordinary but who cares, Brad Pitt is a good sight to look at irrespective of anything else in the movie.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

this one goes to the 10 of us at J.J

So an extended birthday... all of us met at this pub called Shooters, bandra ( i liked the place)

but sadly when i say all its no more the 10 of us... max it goes to is 6 at a time including the better halves!!!

so i had a good time today: the people present: jude, namu, shamli, himanshee,myself & asawari n sumeet( the married couple: met them after exactly a year) n thats why the blog!

A birthday blog

Today is the day when I join archit, charita, namita, shamli, chinar, jammy, harry, bugger boy in the 25+ club ( sorry if anyone else also turned 25 this yr .. prob i just dunno ur age then ;)

Single in Mumbai on my birthday for the first time in 9 years was synonymous to being at home at midnight on 13th june without a surprise for the first time in 9 years

didnt like the feeling at all, especially after last year's midnight bash;
I miss u so much gav.

the day began slow with phone calls pouring in and another day at work...

It livened up only when charita gave me a surprise and came down from Pune to wish me!!!

A dinner with family at 'jewel of india' is what the plan is all about for the evening.

My Best gift this year till now: Contradiction.... by Calvin Klein !!!

it is the sea after all

never ever has it failed to be my companion..a day of restlessness; a thousand thoughts running through my head; nothing seems to fall in place; a thousand things i just dont understand; a feeling of loneliness; a longing for something i cannot get; no answers..


several times have I found myself at this juncture... that when the sea is where I find MYSELF!!!

Random thoughts

Throughly bored at work this afternoon so just thought ill make an attempt at blogging which is gettin infrequent by the day- not able to get my self to blog.

Nothing to write about either.

Life has been pretty slow since the 2nd June ...any guesses why?

I saw Bunty aur Bubli again... i simply loved the movie ( minus the last half hour ofcourse)... blame it on Abhishek Bachan or the colors in the film or the humor or the story or anything or like chari says "u seem to like every thing overly desi these days". I shall go on to say that they should make a sequel and call it
"BUNTY_BUBLI aur PAPPU"...wasnt tht hilarious?
my fav part of the movie: that Qawalli whcih stars ash amitabh and abhishek...
u know i liked the music too... am sure its gonna be on my list to play online on raaga.com once i go back to the US

this morning I 'encountered' a very strange place...happened to accompany someone to a marraige bureau and it was such a scary site with parents n prospectives sitting and n literraly taking notes in fat books from files filed with a form/a photo/ a patrika per applicant n it was as quiet as a doctor's dispensary!!! a room of 10ftx14ft was occupied by atleast 25 people!!!

Time to get back to work!

AHH!! Yes... my birthday is just around the corner!!!

A void that we leave behind

After leaving home to study last year I assumed without any doubt that the most troubled soul in this situation would be myself... a person having left home on my own and carrying the loneliness of the whole world. people who have seen me closely both in mumbai and ann arbor know how diffiuclt it was for me to get into the groove of a completely new setting... and in my self-involvement I never thought of what I had left behind

but this time around two people closest to me...chari and gav have set out for their new lives leaving me in Mumbai and thats when I realise what 'leaving behind a void' means.

This one goes to our parents who so long for us and feel nothing but an absolute emptiness once we are walking the paths of our lives ...

Just a realisation that its not easy for the person you leave behind in the same setting... along side that, is left behind great emptiness which can never be filled

a new war?

well 8 months is a short time to find a remarkable change in a city..nothing in mumbai seems to be drastically different but an interesting new game seems to be the 'war of the print media'. The newsreader in Mumbai has almost been loyal to the Times of India...but this might just change soon... on coming down this time I came across an all new competition where a couple of newspapers which are not based in bombay viz. the hindustan times and dainik bhaskar are on the roll with extremely strong add campaigns and extablishment strategies to set base in Mumbai - a new city for these papers.
The bottom line being Mumbai still continues to be "the" place where the "money" lies...
A new campaign floating all over the streets of mumbai is what they have named the "DNA"- it stands for "daily new and analysis". the strategy here is that they have a market survey such that the newspaper shall be put forth in a way the masses want it to be...srong statements giving the reader the most important position in the paper making him the creator of the format and the content... times answer to this was a new paper on the lines of the look sported by mid- day apparently...

another thing which caught my eye in mumbai was this fleet of new international airlines which offer extremely cheap airfares suddenly seem to be hovering in the skies of mumbai..

the two listed above are simply a couple of examples...

the point being the city still continues to lure... amidst signs of saturation and chaos it still surely stands out was above the rest as the land of oppurtunities and money!!!

Blur

...is all I can see around me
amidst the crowd the chaos the excitement
a bright white spot shining in the distance...
a closer look and its "the blur"
deep down inside,
several doors but none showing the way
several darkspots jsut adding to the haze

all i ask for is that one door...
to let me break through this BLUR

happenings in Mumbai

Its amazing how much one gets done when in India...

like this morning i went to khar for some boring jewellery shopping ... for those who know me and my fetish for junk jewellery would probalby be surprised but its true, n now i accept it for good.. i so hate that gold jewellery conventional shopping spree where moms take u to pick something and make u ponder for hours as to whether its nice n worth it... i dont like gold jewellery!!!



my next stop at home to eat some dirty oily indian chinese..from a local prabhadevi joint called "home deli", the no. of times gav n i have eaten there is not even funny... n i really enjoyed tht bit today


in the evening i went to shop - but in vain. didnt like any sarees at nalli... tried the fashion section- Quorum in Phoenix mills... mogra,krishna murti,AND,JVP... nothing seemed to work.either no good stuff or too expensive... wht i liked was a ritu kumar outfit but was far from fitting my pocket...


the next stop for the evening was at malad...dinner at my uncles place..yummm food!!!!

n then at 1 am in the night suddenly i find myself at orchid near the airport at their karako bar...

Its unbelievable how much u can do in bombay in just one day... but then yest my second day i felt so jet lagged n sleepy tht couldnt get myself out of the house only at 4pm ...once again to shop in vain.. i checked out kala niketan, benzer, roopam, queens, some boutique at maker towers... n i didnt like anything... hope for some hope today!!!

Back in Mumbai

so here i am.. back home in my favorite city... Mumbai!!! Incidently my journey this time roudn spanned across three of my favorite cities...ann arbor(the cozy little town i love so much)- chicago(it never fails to amaze me) and then mumbai(how i miss the chaos)

My journey was good..didnt do anything besides eatign and sleeping:) and reading...

The day before in ann arbor was bad..hectic...with too many things to take care off.. the high light thou was the barbeque at gallop park byt the huron river and the nice mystery incident of a little trek to look for our ball which went into the river( thou people claim that i am not made for trekkin n stuff i dont believe so)

So today its time for shoppin... I still aint sure what I want to wear for the wedding...will probably hit the stores n decide...

useless one

So do u rememeber any of these?

Ye sunne se pehle mere kaan kyon nahin fat gaye?
Mein tumhare bache ki maa banne vali hun
Chup kar chudail
Kahan muh kaala karke aaye hain
MA ke haaath ka gajar ka halwa
Ek ladka aur ladki kabhi dost nahi ban sakte ( this one's my fav.- from maine pyar kiya)
mere des ki mitti ka swad
kya tum mujhe kabhi maaf nahi karoge?
Is ladki ne hame kahin ka nahi choda

(strangely enough they are all about the same thing)

hahah... u guys have already started making wierd faces at this stupid post huh? well thts wht it was meant to be...

just to signify a lazy satruday morning when u wake up at 1130 n dont have to think abt anything!!!

What FUN!!!

Yipppppeeee.....

Time for fun!!!!

My semester ends .. so today was my final design review...went alrite.
one yr of masters wnt by so fast!!!

So what did i do on the last day of winter semester... notihing very special but ill write it: would like to read it few months from now n look back!!! after the review our prof. took us for a drink(S) to Zanzibar. its a nice place... but for some reason had soooo many old people. was kinda strange for a bar!!!

n then got back in the evening n me "the sleep deprived soul" slept off... to wake up at 11 in the night n go to one of my favorite places in ann arbor... bubble island. i really like those bubble teas... they r colourful flavoured teas with coloured bubbles in them...thats a really incomplete defintion but i am suddenly dozing off as i write this..cos its 3 am n i have not slept in days!!! :)

U can ignore this one

Its 2:15 am.. N its what they call the "final push" or the "last lap" of the semester for design studio... its my 6th year experiencing the same feeling before a design final submission..when all you wanna do is shut ofF the damn comp or throw those pencils away n go to sleep.

In my undergrad days the night before the final submission meant an assurance that I am gonna see the sunrise today... aaah.. thought i was done with those days when i gave my final yr thesis...

Suddenly my mind is racing with the number of things I have to get done before monday N THATS NOT HELPING AT ALL...

well this is a useless post written by a soul craving for some sleep... with the word craving... why do i suddenly feel like eating some strawberry cheese cake... yum!!!

i dont undersand

why is change the only constant?
why do we feel?
why cant things just not matter?
why cant things just remain the same?
why cant we always get what we want?
why is there the want to have more?
why is that we r not able to understand everything that exists?
why do we think at all?
why do we expect?
why do we want?
why does desire exist at all?
why is the world an intangible place after all?

What just happened?

this morning as i woke up and looked out of the window I was shocked to see a white blanket once again all over the place... so the weather is turning its tables completely n my posts r becoming redundant writing abt the weather everyday- but i just cant help it.this place amazes me with every new stroke of daylight...

Beginning with the rain a couple of days ago today there was a dense snow storm covering the whole place up with 2-4 inches of snow

n how frustrating is that?

extremely.... just couldnt get myself to go to school...

The lush greens and colorful flowers are all comepletely covered in this white spectacle...

and the weather has succeeded in gettin to me too... my mood swings seem to be at their best and this time around I jsut dont understand whats the matter! : (

u turn ?

so much for all that jazz about spring n warm weather n getting rid of winter wear...since yest the weather has turned its tables on us... its been chilly wet and today its actually snowing... it was so painful to get tht winter jacket out again... thought i was done with it for this year...n now i cant believe am lookin out of the studio window n its snowing...

u know it actually feels like the first time it snowed in november last yr...i veery well rem tht was the day when thanksgivin break happened n we were gonna leave for boston in the evening.

but anyway yest the weather was like being in mahableshwar n all of us had "kanda bhajji/ potato bhajji n ginger chai"

hopefully its only the weekend n get to see some sunshine before i leave

time to part is round the corner

Sometimes you never realise when something becomes an integral part of your life!

So niki left for India today... in the excitement and the fact tht will meet her in India in a couple of weeks didnt realise that we both wont be together all of summer till september... n then jsut for four more months.

8 months is a long time and almost feels like family.

Spring Fest

Today was the spring fest in the north campus diag… luckily for me I could go have fun without the guilt of work on my head cos I got done with one more final presentation…so now I am officially two courses down for this semester with two more to go… One paper due on the 26th and then design presentation on the 28th….

So what was spring fest?

Well I think it was way lesser than what I expected it to be …but then what the hell...when u r with ur friends and the weather is closest to perfect its SO MUCH FUN… so there was the sun…shining at its best ever that I have seen in Ann Arbor…there was some free food n Thai ice tea(its this really yum orange colored drink which I really like)…some Hawaiian garlands… some games…some lazing around on the grass… n a great bunch of friends!!! Harry has clicked some pics…

(I think the winter fest n arch socials in the archi. building are richer in their content… but that’s just my personal opinion and I am sure most people who read this blog will surely disagree or chose to by default) a simple example: so i am in the middle of my history class right now n we have this thing of serving food in the middle of the class.. nwhats the menu today? wine n cheese, cookies, pita n dip n carrots... the food that was served at the 'spring fest'? - hotdogs ...well i ain't complaining... we r just lucky that the architecture school is one of the few schools on campus(i dunno if the only one) where alcohol is served all the time.. works for me!!!

that was about a couple of hours of fun after which all of us got back to our respective schedules n to work!!!

One more thing… I just discovered today after 9 months ( the number is purely coincidental) here in the North Campus that there is a lovely water body in the music school just across the road from the architecture building!!!
Guess the weather never let me wander ever!

sem end crisis

its that time of the year when whether weekend or not doesnt matter. it surely doesnt feel like a sunday evening. a charachteristic sunday evening would mean the glooomiest feeling when u know u have to begin a new week tomorrow. but when final exams and reviews and presentations are sitting on your head...

what i feel bad though is that the weather is beautiful outside... and would love to just spend a day roaming around the cozy little town of aa....

u can tell fro mmy post tht nothing exciting is realy happening in my life right now... can it get more non- specific than this one?

In the middle of drawing a perspective for my pre- final studio review tomorrow thought should just pen down a few useless words.

one more thing... namu i didnt forget ur birthday this time... happy birthday!!!

Gluttony

wht did i eat for lunch today?

medu wada
idli
some fried chilli
uttappa
lemon rice
bissibelli bhaat
rasam
hakka noodles
chilli idli
dahi bhaat
paneer makhanwala
chole
mushroom something exotic
bhindi masala
sambar
payassam
some sweet shira
chicken something yummy
chilly chicken
lamb curry
fish fry... dunno wht fish
blackforest cake
n kulfi

n now i am back in studio to work on my project... ya rite!!!

essentially my group mates n i set out early (12 noon) on sat morning to work on our site planning project... after a couple of hours of work we stuck to our pledge on venturing into different cuisines on our saturday meetings...this being the last one for the term cos the project is due on tuesday...so this time indian was the call... n most rightly so madras masala stuffedddddd our tummies up ... got back to work..but my eyes are closing....

or and now the point being... i have realised that the last time i went to india in dec my folks were like ... "poor girl she has lost so much weight" but this time... no such bhaav... i am sure.. cos i have once again put on so much weight ...sob sob.. time to get to a diet till the sem ends i believe....

dont worry g u ll see a 'not so fat' komal... hopefully !!!!

random

so what is it that i wanna write about? nothing really.... the week just went by in a rush...completing my exam some submissions ..thou it began well with shopping.. n there is nothing else in the near viscnity to look forward to... the week ahead beginning tomorrow itself promises to keep me busy with loads of work and reviews coming up...sem ends just end up being choking times...

...well these times will soon end n then come may n i shall get ready for "the wedding"... chari's wedding is just around the corner n i am missing home like never before... any suggestions on outfits to wear for the wedding?

... see u soon guys...

Frustrated

Have u ever felt like hating yourself?
Have u ever felt like you just don’t do anything right?
Have u ever felt like not wanting to rationalize anything?
Have u ever felt like wanting to just sleep and do nothing?
Have u ever felt like things go wrong only cos of ur actions n no one is to blame?
Have u ever felt that crying would be the only thing that would help?
Have u ever felt like throwing a tantrum would be the best thing in the world?
Have u ever felt frustrated?

i love gifts

Isnt gettin a gift from your favorite people in the world the most wondrful feeling?

so the first two days of the week were just tht.... esp one when u least expect it...and gettin exactly wht u want... n in turn makes both happy!!!

thanks a lot!!!

k

H o L i in Ann Arbor

The last year in March when i went to play Holi with Abhay, Sonu n Gav I was pretty sure that this is one thing i surely wont do after going to the US...

so i was totally wrong... i actually went out to play holi ...its kinda late but who cares... with colour water n mud.... eeks!!! but i had a blast!!! i know gav u r gonna be shocked ... but i was thrown into "chikhal" n no! i didnt have anyone to crib to it and throw a tantrum to abt itlike i did to u all these years!!! :(

loaded with tons of work thou i just wanted to go see how it is to play holi in a playground here in ann arbor with all the people around you wondering whts goin on....

now for the best part... the one thing i was looking forward to was the ride back home in the "blue bus" n that was so much fun... 4 of us(chinar, jammy, sandy n i) standing at the stop wondering whether the bus driver is gonna let us in... n after hoppin into the bus (confidently...cos we saw a bunch of "dirty souls" like us already in there)... n those glares from all sides in a crowded bus...kids wondering as to who the hell are these people... was fun guys !!!!

more later!!!

k

movie time: this weekend was realy frworthwhile not in terms of any work gettin done but i watched two really good movies...after a long long time.. n i am feeling realy happy.

Movie 1: Sin City: guys if u liked pulp fiction n kill bill... i bet u would LOVE this one... a movie by Frank miller based on three of his graphic novels: "Sin City", "The Big Fat Kill" and "That Yellow Bastard". Placed in a morbid town absolutely drowned in crime, cops,sex, adultery, blood, the movie revolves around three stories which are woven together by a singular plot...the treatement: it cant get better than this... a comic strip brought to life... with the entire movie projected in a "reel" life version of the daily comic strip... splash of reds, blues and green intersperced just in the right places to complete the art work... u have to watch the movie.. this prob goes to my jj friends... jude some how i got reminded of doniv when i saw the movie.. u know he ll love it.!!!

Movie 2: Shwaas: An absolute contrast from the one above...India's entry to the oscars...This one i thought seems like a huge step in Marathi cinema... a story abt little boy and his grandfather... the darkest reality of their life and how they come in terms with it- i liked this one cos a complex thought here is put forth in an extremely simple and rich manner... surely worth it!!!

so much from me as I get back to my studio work!!!

k' speaks : )

Lookin back at the week that went by it somehow seemed much longer than any of the other weeks.. i wonder why...

Have been wanting to blog since the past few days but just didnt seem to have anything worthwhile to write about...and at this moment too am sitting here at my studio desk scratching my brains as to what was so exciting that i missed recording ...

so nothing really..ill just keep this random!!!

this moring i woke up at 10 am.after a long 9 hour sleep.feels like heaven. the reason : hadnt slept the prev day cos of an exam.so the sem is coming to an end n there is loads of work to be done before it actually ends. n from today its exactly 20 days to my final review.

oh yes there is something worthwhile i did this week besides studying, i bought three books:

1. Guys i bought the 10 x 10. i am soooooooooooo happy!!!
2. Supermodernism by Hans Beilings...a ncie concise lil book. i love books that size!!!
3. Architectural theory ...since 1968.by Michael Hays.its has a great collection of essays by some really good people.

so thats was from k for the week.the coming week also has an exam and a review lined up ...goin to himani's over the weekend.

did i forget. the weather is sooooo lovely here now!!!!

it was 1.59am... n now its 3am

i was gettin bored working on my design n wanted to blog but just looking back at the couple of days didnt have much to blog about... so closed the window... n suddenly saw the clock in my laptop... till 5 min ago it was 1.55 am n now its 3 am...

so daylight saving begins today n our clocks are an hour fast..that sucks... suddenly it feels so late n the night... my mind set still works on 2am being a good time n when its 3 i start feelin restless cos it ll be 4 am soon thts mornign .. n why am i up so late?

so much from me... on a sat night while i sit n work on my studio work.

a movie and some music

a movie and some music i heard after a long time...

movie 1: born into brothels: a classic example of a strong statement represented in a simple form putting forth the message just as it needs to be. A movie which brought the oscars to India but apparently will never be screened there... placed in a red light area in calcutta through the simple medium of "photogrpahy" as the subject tells us about the lives of thse children. A small intervention in their lives in the form of a "camera" changes their lives... forever for some.. for the time being for the rest. The movie doesnt aim at putting forth a sad image meant for pondering...its just about how even a few resources within your capacity are good enough to bring about change in an environment... surely worth a watch. the photogrpahs are incredible... the representation too is remarkable. more like " less is more"


album 1: is raat ki subah nahin... this movie has 3 songs..released somewhere in the late 90s i believe,
the songs did strike me tht time..but when i heard them again this time around they are so much better... the music and the lyrics both... especially the song "jeewan kya hain"

Album 2: phir teri kahani yaad aayee... i guess most of u guys will agree that this movie though didnt do well was a good movie with excellent songs... my personal favorites : baadalon mein chup rahaan hain chaand kyon and "dil mein sanam ki suarat"

more later!!!

...well...

ok i dont mean to shock any of you guys with this post... but just something tht has been crossing my mind over the past few days...whts must be the feeling for parents to see their new born baby in their arms?

isnt it a beautiful feeling to see... feel... nurture...love... someone tht is literally a part of u...

n how lovely a feelin would it be to search the face of tht loved one in your baby ?


i think i am really becoming old!!!!

c o l l a g e

i love the way cities begin to grow over you.... today on a birght sunny day as i walked for almost two hours in ann arbor...lookin for a site for one of our projects in siteplanning i just realised how much ann arbor has grown over me..the cozy little town which can never make anyone feel out of place... big cities have their charm in their pace and chaos... i love them too... but ann arbor is one place i would surely love to come back to and look back at al the wonderful memories i left behind... coming to think isnt it amazing as to how places with varied character can excite you in their own ways...the feeling of a calm and quaint environment aand the hyper-urban,fast city both never cease to amaze me...

so my saturday went in getin up late for the party last night... we had a ball of a time...truly... shall go down in history!!! the pictures are proof enough...

sp part of the day spent in looking for a site to make a "nature trail"... food at a korean restaurant... then a walk at gallop park....its this cozy lil park by the river and the tracks... afterwhich we went for a movie... 'robots'... i didnt like the animation much.. the story wasnt any different too.. maybe worth a casual watch...

so here comes sunday tomorrow... n then the week ahead...

weekends here

its tht day of the week again... n this time around there is more to it than jsut niki's n my cooking turn for the week... talkin abt cooking... i quite enjoy it... i remember cribbing to my mom a couple of yrs ago as to how i would make my husband cook n not do anything..well things seem to hv changed.. i can already see someone smiling... dont worry g... i ll make sure u get ur share too..

n why is this friday evening more interesting... its chinar's birthday today and there is one more of our "infamous" house parties to look forward to...the week went by so fast this time.. didnt realise when i completed an exam, a review and a paper... n now its just one more month for the sem to end...

last night was fun too... after my exam which i actually managed to submit 3 hours before the deadline... am shocked my self...gav i am sure u r too!!!

.. after that there was chinaclay's birthday cake cutting... the cake didnt managed to reach anyone of us cos it was all over his face.. i personally hate cake smearing... that yumm chocolate cake was meant to be eaten man!!! so there was tiramsu... which i so love tooooo... no wonder am already showing signs of putting on weight all over agn..wonder wht it ll be like when i get bk home in may!!!

n last night was especially nice cas sid and audrey dropped by...it was great to meet him after a long time now... n meet audrey too!!!

so much from 'k' for the week...

mid week crisis

you r right chinar... guess spoke too soon...

its March 23rd. the official day for spring to begin..n the situation in ann arbor? its snowing againn... aaah... yesterday was such a beautiful sunny day n now again windy colddd n snowing...

guess i hv had enough of the winter for this year...

just dont feel like working!!!!

ok me in my cribby mood... which is reflecting in my post so i shall stop and get back to my thoery exam...

more over the weekend... looking forward to something!!!

the weekend... felt like fall !!!

sunday evenings... dont u hate em? I so do... but i guess the best way to get rid off the monday morning blues is to work sufficient enough on sunday afternoon( cos thats when dawn happens for me) and evenings... so gettin back to work is not such a nightmare after all.

the week ahead looks hectic.. a review, an exam due on thursday... a paper and an assignment... wow.. huge line up.. but wht the f... its only 5 weeks more to go..so time to cram in...

this weekend felt like one of those weekends in fall.. on sat night i think for the first time this sem i went to necto... and followed by oz...the weather was kinda warm...around 40F... finally got rid of my boring jacket... n got back home at 4 am..this winter sem hadnt done much of tht compared to the amount we went out last fall...

spring is round the corner... i cant wait to see the white being replaced by color all over again...

One of those days.......

why is design such a painful process at times? i hate these moments when u are suddenly going fine and realisation dawns upon... mostly at the famous" desk crits" at to how STUCKKKK u are.. n then there is huge bottle neck.. n the road is just so blurred...

such was the day today..when i suddenly seem to hate every aspect of studio design right now... JUST SO STUCK...

n the worst part is ... these moments just seem to come along your way in every design... at every stage.... when u simply wanna throw the trace or stop staring at tht black cad screen... only to know tht u have to get back to it...

n all i need right now is some light... some door... some direction... some hope!!!!


HELPPPP!!!!

Hanging by a moment

You make friends.. the friendship last forever.. but its ur own road..to be travelled alone..

Today as buggerboy leaves for charleston... one member on the 3036 group lesser to hang out with... my conversation with niki this afternoon made me realise that today something that is such an integral part of our lives...its absolutely temporary...

a group of strangers crossing paths through their joruney... task accomplished.. hitting the road for a new journey... whts important is along this path the friendships n relationships that blossom and show a promise to last forever...

the bottom line is... these past six months have surely taught me to learn to live for the moment.. enjoy every bit of it when u are in it... somethings are such which will happen only once in your lifetime... but surely promised great memoriess - a treasure for ever n ever!!!

...

let me keep this simple...

people dont last...
but the memories do..
wht happens to each one doesnt matter...
what matters is the memories you share with each soul...

life goes on.. at the same pace..jsut a scratch which shall never be erased!!!

Party time

a party on a thursday night... well we all very slightly unsure how tht would be with everyone having something or the other lined up for fri morning ... in school or at work... but at the end of the day...IT WAS ONE ROCKING PARTY... venue: 1032... tht place is now becomin official party place i believe... occasion: bugger boy (aditya) leaving Ann Arbor to go for his job at Charleston...

The amount of alcohol tht was consumed is unbelievable..when i saw tht i was so sure its gonna b surplus..but does alcohol every be surplus? hahah...from jello shots to yager to tequilla to vodka to bacardi to malibu... it all got over... in a matter of 2.5 -3 hours i believe...

The resident DJ pingu ( amit)... i think should seriously consider his part time job as a DJ..is he good or wht?

so loads n laods of fun...lasting through morning.. 5am...good luck bugger boy... shall miss u at 3036 and all the fun times!!!

Clarity matters the most to me

everytime i get done with my theory lecture by Michael Speaks there is great urge to blog... especially today... as the lecture finally concentrated on not just most modernism and philosophy by the role of post modernist architecture adn deconstruction and deconstructivist architecture.

Each theory reading to begin with is almost as obscure as it can be.. but in the end ... a good prof and great readings surely matter... understanding post modernism and deconstruction is actually making me feel so much clearer.

post modernism still stands where i understood it as... po-mo bullshit.. those words tht fell on my ears in 3rd yr undergard have stood right there.. and today jhenck's jargon just stands for tht n nothing else... but yet again it is the victory of the popular.. of tht wht is easy to comprehend.. as wht is seen all over the place in any part of the world is nothin but expressions of the po- mo world...

wht makes me happier: is understanding deconstruction... Beginning to read Derrida was again one nightmare... but it suddenly all falls in place and its not obscure... understading it with architectural references though sort of questions its existence in architecture..btu thats where lies all the excitement... the search to understans where exactly does the theory we so live up to lie in the philosophical realm.

Once again the same arguement.... as an intangible.. complex.. disconnected...intense theory ..deconsturction still stands with just a few names... whom again we as students look upto...ending up enrolling into universities which strongly stand for the same school of thought.

At the end of the day "clarity is all that matters" and I am happy that i feel like i am in the right place... and heading in which may not be the right direction btu the direction which i aim to be in... as always tagging along the path of the intangible... searching and living up to the excitement on the path!!!

C H I C A G O

Ok I have been wanting to write this one for a while now… finally got to it…

I prob would want to break it up into 4 parts…

1. my stay at Chicago
2. my work/workplace
3. how I love big cities
4. C H I C A G O

Spring Break is over… n now I am back to school in the cozy little town of AA… n it suddenly seems all that much more… reason: my week long stay in Chicago…
A well spent week… I took the train to Chicago with a friend Nathalie… the journey was quite good.. not at all as bad as people made it sound… I reached Chicago on Sunday afternoon and suddenly the mad rush that I was in the week before spring break seemed to have caught on and I actually slept in the afternoon for 3 hours at my cousins place… that’s so not me… probably the huge cozy bed and a heavy … “CKP” lunch (Jammy totally thought of u then) was the culprit…

The week began with my first stint in an architectural firm in the US… a week long “externship” … I don’t really know what I was expecting out of this week long experience but now that it is behind my back I surely get the feeling that I got much more than I expected… Having landed up with an internship in a corporate venture unlike most of my classmates who went to proprietary firms I was slightly skeptical abt they letting me into their work culture at all and it being just a boring week… To my surprise I really feel like I learnt a lot on the practical front even within a short span of a week…from a concept presentation to a boring data centre project meeting to a site meeting no different from the brash meetings which I attended back in Bombay… to the passing of the design by the city officials… this is to namu, heman, jude, sagu n tolu.. trust me getting permission somehow seems no different and painful than it does in Bombay… especially in a city like Chicago where the architectural vocabulary does not reflect that at all.

Working in downtown Chicago is an absolutely different feeling altogether… dressing up for work was so much fun… hey Chari I am sure u don’t believe that coming out of me right? The people at work were really good fun… n it would be unfair if I don’t mention the “Go Blue” lunch I went for with all the U of M alumni at work…

My stay at Chicago surely reinforced my love for big cities… I do like Ann arbor .. n I believe its t he prefect place to start living when u get here… but Big cities.. the pace.. the life… the vibrancy… just amazes me..

The week well spent… on Friday evening I met my senior from JJ… ..tht evening was nice .. uh uhm!!! Almost!!!.. here is the good part… I saw, infact went to the Students center in IIT Chicago… designed by Rem Koolhaus… finally… GUYS ITS AWESOME!!! … a really successful piece of work.. especially so when it conveys what it means to just abt everyone n not just architects…

N right across stands the modernist statement of Mies… the crown hall… it feels so cool to actually see the work which u looked up to in school…

N then some more celeb names… on Saturday morning I went to the Millennium park… my first encounter with a Gehry structure… the amphitheater he has built there… well I was awestruck.. lotsa people don’t like that piece of work…but it was surely some experience to see his work out of the books and magazines in reality .. n walked on the pedestrian bridge again by Gehry… seeing the same in the evening just complete the experience!!!! Walking along Michigan avenue… its so vibrant!!!! N the apply store…. Hmm!!!!!!

Finally more funnnn time… with nikhil chinar and bugger comin to Chicago.. we spent like just about 24 hours together.. but it seems like we did a lot… it all began with lunch in china town… man .. only cos I could see the downtown skyline as the back drop did it feel like Chicago… was pretty much the real china town… from there to the signature bar in john hancock…mayur I pretty much took ur advice… didn’t go to the observatory which was surprisingly a floor below… this was onthe 95th floor…. Once again a walk along Michigan av… the shops on magnificent mile.. I am so glad I didn’t really shopppppp.!!!!

The Millennium park was revisited by the four of us this time…. Fun pics, some great public art n chilly weather!!! N then back to where we were staying… the iit campus… oops desi land…

The partying scene happened too…we went to this club called Transit (weird name) though the place was great… the four of us and chinar’s friends… had a great time!!!!

Dinner at 2 am… at Delhi darbar… that place was just exactly the same as Baghdadi abd Bades at colaba… right from the crowd.. to the to crockery… to the water… to the food…to the raw onions served … there were no traces of being in the US…

Sun morning was surprisingly pleasant…it was actually 67F… n the perfect day to go to Navy Pier… u know tht reminded me of Bombay…and for some reason as I stood at the pier and looked back at downtown got reminded of my site visit trips to Alibag with Samira’s office and our Uran trips…when the skyline of Bombay receded into the haze (abu sonu, pd arch, gav n i) …

The trip finally came to an end with CHEESECAKE from cheesecake factory..some for us to eat on our way back … the rest for moi friends back in AA…

Oh yes… not to forget the lil stop at new buffalo…at the beach..tht was a lovely lil town… we stopped by the beach.. n hogged on our cheesecakes… n headed back to Ann Arbor directly to Tuptim for Sandy’s treat!!!!!

breaking my break before spring break

wow!!! its been 20 days since i last blogged...the funny part is i didnt even realise that its been so long... these past two-three weeks have been such a mad rush...n looking around me in this studio..wherei practically live.. guess the rent to willowtree is almost unjustified... i kinda like the studio environment..hwo much ever i deny it it makes me work better...see this is wht is up with me.. i am bloggin after about two weeks and ending u writing about my studio... i really dont know wht to write about after this "lambi khamoshii" on my blog spot... well lots has happened on the homefront in thesep ast two weeks... and prob wht i would want to mark on my blogspot would be my dear sister " charitas" engagement... i have never missed being in some place at some point of time as much i missed it tht day... luckily wht kept me goin was .. mind u not being in the studio but this party which we all had ...after the "4th dec party" ... it was fun... sober!!! hahaa!!!

so charita is engaged n to be married soon. not being a part ofthis whole thign jsut makes u realise wht "presence" means... i kinda find it wierd... can u imagine? one of the most important person in my life is about to get married and dont reeally know the person she is gettin married to.. this might not sound like a big deal as i have penned it down... but when i try to ft myself into the scenario back home i feel disconnected... i really do!!! n whts funnier is that gaurav is much more an integral part of this whole thing...strange huh!!! what with he knowing whts happening exactly in my house and me almost oblivious...

all in all... i missed u a lot chari...!!!! really missed being there!!!

This long gap from bloggin isnt helping me here one bit and i jsut dont know wht to write right now... well here is a small beginning as i promised my self to try and frequent this page...

another thing... submissions reviews exams r finally over and we hea to spring break.. .and where does tht take me to? CHICAGO.. i cant wait to see frank gehry rem koolhaus and flw all at the same time... wat fun!!! and why do i go there? for a one week internship .... am excited and nervous at the same time...

shall surely blog on my visit to "mecca" !!!

...9 years surely doesnt seem like a long time...

posted late by a week!!!

Four fruitful days… or foodfull days... or work”full” days…

n a dead city…

aim: reviving the dead city:

the Detroit design charrette… 21st -24th jan 05
and the people dedicated to this aim:

5 architects (the smarter lot) 4 urban planners( uhhh!!!) 2 urban designers(hmm.. confused souls?) 2 landscape architects( don’t really care) 1 business school student( all talk?) in 3 professional members… surely quite a team and a great learning experience…

Especially under Michael Sorkins... he is soooooooo good!!!!

Sadly this blog has been lying in the drafts since week now ,… n all the high and excitement seems to have died down…

All in all just to mark these four days in my memory as an experience filled with lots of interesting work… loads of yummm food… they just kept on feeding us with rich sinful food for four days… horribleee weather… a rare opportunity to work with great people!!!

ME

Lost in a crowd
Which in reality doesnt not exist
Yet, not a vaccum...

a few familiar faces...
few moments of happiness..
moments of exile...
can i call them my own?

Looking back...craving for the world i left behind...
that I can call mine
with the hope that it shall be mine through eternity...

Drowned in this 'spectacle' I have created for myself!!!
...in this quest for a new identity and identification!!!

As I stand, deeply integrated in the milieu...
Yet, experiencing the disconection .. of being a spectator in my own realm.


..................................

A lone obsservor ...a lone participant... to the act of my own life...
an experience of my own specatacle I have shared with none but the spectator that I call myself.

Philip Johnson

architect philip johnson... my first understanding and inspiration as an architectural student... dies today...at 98

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/arts/design/26cnd-john.html?ex=1107752400&en=1aacf8f80a5200e6&ei=5070


surely the first inspiration for the basis of my philosophies and basic understanding of the subject... even today he stood as "the architect" to me who carried forward the modernist icon succesfully into the post-modernist era...

... his work shall always be etched into my memory...

nothing can me more irritating than a task incomplete without no fault of urs... n no way to complete it!!!

Questioning context…

Of late the importance of context has been pondering over my mind… be it as a way of life; a set of people; an architectural expression… yes I do avoid writing on architecture on my blog but I think this would be a more generalized interpretation of the term.

In my undergraduate days.. the times when I was well rooted in to a certain set of surroundings… assured of an absolute existence in and around that precinct… context meant only in terms of contextualizing my architecture in terms of site place people culture and all the other assumptions and understanding we base our architecture on. But today having completely shaken from the “rooted existence” that I led Context probably stands out as the only relevant means of identification, understanding and relation.

Why is it that we miss rather relate to people most only in the context of the situations we shared with them or the places we co-existed in? Suddenly meeting an individual who is an integral part of your life in a different part of the world at an absolutely different time and place shakes the foundation on which u believe u have known that person…

When we so strongly talk about extending culture into our architecture isn’t it absolutely contextual to the culture of that time and place? Recreating 18th century statement amidst a contemporary urban society puts it out of context of it time and place… or trying to reinforce an urban condition in a predominantly rural set up puts its out of place.
However with globalization taking its toll on the world and architects like Peter Eisemen and Zaha Hadid becoming an inspiration for students be they positioned anywhere in the world the “contextualisation” of architecture though claimed to be existent is blurring across the globe… yet a contemporary architecture of its place though built on theories of its time becomes successful only when it actually roots itself to the context of the place; people and existing culture of the set-up it is serving.

Why does it happen that when u r existing in two different worlds at the same time they both begin to exist as parallel worlds not intersecting in their paths… a co-existence of the two worlds at any point of time places the other out of context.

Education… culture... art… existence… society… people… places… architecture.. all fall in place only in context?

All that is solid melts in the air...

yes.. i borrowed the title from a reading of my theory class..
(on modernism and post modernity)...

but it so aptly fits the weather in ann arbor since the past couple of days... every morning for the past two weeks now i hv been so used to gettin up to this blanket of snow in the courtyard behind my house tht this morning waking up to an actual real green lawn was surely a pleasant surprise... since yestreday surprisingly the lil cozy yet collddd town town has beenall misty and foggy and realtively warm .. reminded me of one the places u go to for a nice holiday..well tht surely implies my desire to not work .... n today its this lovely rainy day... when all the white has been replaced by the green underneath ... feels like a hill station... i guess this is gonna be the warmest day for the season... gonna try breathe as much into it... before the white wraps the place all over again!!!

on my stint at baking...

i baked my first consitent and prefect cake yesterday.. to most people it probably isnt as much as a high to me right now... but surely makes me feel really happy cos it turned out jsut the way i imagined it to be... a nice rich butter cake ... goooooeeyyy... n soft... hey advait remember the amont of time weh ave spent discussing tht part of cakes... n how the only cake shop in bombay which satisfied our tastebuds happends to be oven fresh.. thou u always vouched for the cakes from croissants too... i dont totally disagree thou..


as i write this blog i am actually getting back to thoe lil things which gave me a high and always waned to pen em down..had lost it for quite some time now...

this one is to gaurav.. hey baby i am so happy for u today... i wish i was still in India to share your moment of happiness...have fun... n keep rocking!!!( eeks that "keep rocking" doesnt sound like me na? but i guess ill leave it at tht)

Back to ann arbor and a week old now!!!

Another semster.. this one has begun with a bang..givign me hardly anytime to recover from my trip to India.. the winter has set in to the city and has also starte showign its effects on me.. some how i am still so lethargic nd not upto doin my part... settling in at my own pace... didnt even feel like blogging..this one is an attempt at breaking the ice which is forming in my head!!!

12 days in India... seemed to hv got over with the flash of an eyelid..all in all...meeting up with my dear friends and family.. attending plenty of weddings... thats the only thing everyone ... my age or beyond seems to be talkin abt n doing.. gettin engaged.. getin married..wht with people? eating loads of yumm food.. i guess i hv eaten enough fish to last me for a few months... n visiting all the dear old places all over my fav city of Mumbai... that city surely gives me an all time high... amidst all his chaos... cluter... pace!!! it jsut breathes vibrantly all the time!!!


I surely MISS MUMBAI LIKE CRAZY