-| child labour |-

Two kids, 4-5 years in age, are quietly sleeping.

 What is the image that forms in your mind when you read this sentence? Two youngsters on a bed with a quilt around them? I would have formed that image as well – until a couple of days back. But now, the picture comes to mind is a very different one.

*This image made realize I should never take anything for granted – this image is not clicked my site but downloaded from net. I didn’t have the heart to click those two kids who were sleeping peacefully while their parents were busy making sure they get their next meal!

** I can’t stop child labor in my country but I make sure that it is not practiced on any of my sites.

Merry X'mas!!!! 

-| skies |-

| mumbai to goa | 
october, 2011

-| phone yawn |-

The act of taking out a cell phone from one's pocket or purse, resulting in other people in the vicinity taking out and checking their phones as well.

i am sure you all must've experienced this or been a part of it (at least i have been ;) ) 

-| doings |- 

God and nature do nothing in vain.

-aristotle 

-| site visit fiasco |-

1. First site visit within 15 days of joining new office.
2. You haven’t met the client.
3. You don’t know your colleagues very well either.
4. You are told that you have to help shortlist sanitary-ware items and tiles for 13 bathrooms!!! [Uh- oh] 
5. You are taken to the site – and find it completely empty!!! [this is bizarre, since construction sites are  generally teeming with people] – Then someone informs that its ‘vishwakarma’ and reason dawns upon you.
6. From there, you are taken to the area which has ample shops to browse. [Ok girl, pep up! Gear yourself up mentally for a long day ahead]
7. Shop 1, shop 2, shop 3 – this is good – the client is very clear minded. Knows what he wants and really appreciates our inputs – so far so good!
8. Then it happens! – Your shoe sole has suddenly and completely gravitated to the concrete road underneath! And you passionately wish that your body has some gravitational force which would urge the sole to pull up and stop at the rim of the shoe! Of course this doesn't happen!!  [you  understand  this is simply a part of your over-active imagination]
9. You try to walk normal – as normal as you can with your sole doing a flip-flop on its own – and pray hard that you become invisible!
10. But your Director notices your ‘normal’ walk and you try to tell him with your eyes –“please ignore it”. Since he is not looking in your eyes, he bursts out laughing then after looking at your face, tries to control his amusement.
11. Meanwhile you are wondering why you are still visible to these mere mortals?!!?! Then the next thought that crosses your mind – Will He forgive me, if I punch my director’s nose just this once?!
12. Then your director comments to your client how normal it is for all architects to have their boots busted every now and then due to extremely rough usage. And they fall into a discussion of seeing busted boots and makes, etc.
13. And you privately thank the good God that you didn't punch your director!  [Com’on you haven’t even finished a month in this new office!]
14. You start hoping for the sun to set so you can return home and to normalcy. But sweetie, that is not to happen until you visit a few more shops and thankfully stop at one cobbler.
15.  By 3pm you reach the barren site again to do a site chakkar.  [let me point out, whatever the reason, the construction site looks sad and dreadful when you don’t find labourers to give life to them – figuratively and factually]
16.  You feel human again with sand, aggregate and re-bars under your foot. [I am sure  you are praying that the newly stitched sole holds up the stress] .
17. Thankfully, you head towards the airport and obviously feel the day won’t have any more surprises.
18. But it is not so – you are tired with all the happenings of the day and are fast asleep. The air-hostess wakes you up for food and you stupidly fumble with the tray. You have messed up so much during the length of the day that you don’t care what she and the person sitting in the adjoining seat thinks! Blast them!  
19. Finally you reach your home and confident that you will never have a similar day again – because even if you goof up, it will not be the first time! ;)

Points to be noted:

• Check your shoes before every site visit.
• Think before act.
• Keep an open mind.
• Make sure you don’t wear torn socks. 
• And lastly, don't let the goof-ups deter you - enjoy them as you always do. 

-| list |- 

The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.... ;);)

-| wasted space |- 

The more compact the better - is today's motto. 

When most people see a plan of a house or apartment, there is a tendency to term all space which is not functionally utilized (invariably meaning "not occupied by a piece of furniture")  as wasted space. Likewise, architectural elements like foyers, ante rooms, passageways and verandahs; in short, spaces that lead to another, providing buffers or gradations in spatial sequences are considered questionable. These are in fact the essence of your plan, allowing it to breathe and communicate without shouting. 

Consider an aircraft toilet. It is perfectly functional. All you need to add is a shower cubicle. But we do not build similar toilets in our houses. This is because each human activity goes beyond the obvious function. Bedrooms are not just for sleeping, dining rooms are not just for eating. Kitchens are not just for cooking. Each of these activities form part of 'living' or 'dwelling', which goes beyond mere functionalism. Reducing the art of dwelling to the sum of these activities results in a mechanical house, perfectly functional in that it has a compartment for each of these activities, but no ‘life’.

So you have a plan with all these compartments. What next ? Hunt for further wasted space within these compartments and convert them into "storage". As a nation we seem to be obsessed with storage space. Any vacant space is used to store stuff. 

Builders build Lofts in apartment bedrooms so that storage space is gained, but at what cost ? Your bedroom is ruined. As you lie in your bed you can sense its looming presence overhead, stuffed with bulging old suitcases and old cartons and what not . Can you not plan a small room, say 1.5 mt by  2.5 mt to keep all the stuff that goes into your loft ? Suppose you are paying a 1000 rupees per square foot for your flat, is forty thousand rupees too much to spend to get an uncluttered, clean house ? Besides you won't need to finish this room that well. Even a concrete floor will do. You will probably spend close to that much on covering up your lofts with hideous shutters anyway ! 

The space which flows under the bathroom washbasin counter, which keeps the room from feeling cramped. Lets cover it up with shutters !  All six feet of it ?  What are you going to store there anyway ?  A hundred bottles of Harpic ? Or perhaps piles of that stuff that makes the water in the potty blue.

And look !  that bed is floating so elegantly in the bedroom over some 'wasted space'. Lets build some storage there so that we can bang our heels against it first thing each morning.   

Ultimately, such houses, far from being living, vibrant dwelling spaces become 'storage spaces' to store you and your family. 

Passing thought: Morning rooms in old bungalows. A space to enjoy the rising sun. To celebrate the dawning of each day ! What could be more essential in a home ?