On architecture...

"Architecture is a journey. It has a beginning.. but it never ends." - Aditya Chandrasekhar, USD batch 2008


The beginning of every college life is similar, the joy of meeting new people, being in a new place, knowing what being independent really is like. Especially in my case - being someone brought up in Saudi Arabia - a very strict country with even stricter rules for women - there were many reasons to celebrate the beginning of my college life.

Studying architecture was not at all what I'd imagined it would be like. Actually, I hadn't really imagined much as to what was to come. But when it did, I loved it.

USD was soon my home. The space-framed studio with no barriers between classes and the mezzanine from which you can gleefully observe the entire college and its activities, the computer labs, the library… all became points of meeting new people, learning new things, exploring the world of architecture every day. Everyone knew everyone else here. The lack of walls or separations or boundaries also helped everyone with socializing and getting to know each other better. Seniors, juniors, super-seniors, all ate under one roof in the workshop area below where Chandru anna would serve hot coffees and delicious open masala dosas every noon.

We shared our thoughts, opinions and our lunches here. We talked about architecture; we gossiped, had fiery debates, laughed and suggested books and movies to each other here.

The space-framed studio would serve us as our classrooms, exhibition hall, display area, jury room and during NASA or on final jury eves as even our homes, for we have spent nights working here together, we have stayed up all night and not even realized that the sun had risen, together.

The first 2 years were the most informal or 'relaxed' study semesters. We enjoyed the most in these semesters, making models, doing slideshow presentations, sculpture classes, and sketching live objects and even people. We went on trips every year, we saw new things, we learnt even more.

One thing about architecture is that it’s not like any other course where you learn from text books or lab experiments with a fixed syllabus and you score the highest in class if you adhere to them. No, in architecture there is no end to how much you can learn and from whatever sources you can learn. It’s been five years since I have been in this field, and yet sometimes I wonder, how much have I really learnt? Learning architecture is an endless process, where you learn more from the talks in the corridors, canteens, libraries etc. with your seniors or juniors or teachers or just about anybody else, more than you would in a theory or lecture room.

I have always wished that our college would have had more open spaces where we could go sit to take a break from the work or deadline stress and just relax our minds and help regain our creativity level to a normal, when we have reached the saturation point.  Or that the small canteen downstairs wouldn't have closed down and it would've been like the good old days in first year.

And yet, I still find my college close to perfect in terms of how it does not restrict you, because architecture requires creativity, and it does not come from being pressurized or restricted. One needs to be able to work with an open mind.

In an architecture school, you may not learn a lot about technicality, or even come close to really understanding what architecture is all about. You learn through a series of failed or successful experiments which you perform, ultimately producing something amazing, something you created, something which reflects you in so many ways… and you proudly realize: your journey in Architecture has begun.

Nostalgia...

Being in a field that requires a lot of travelling, you come across a lot of things passing you by. The scenes you see from a moving bus, the pastures and fields from a moving train, flashing by, the people doing different things, children playing, cattle mooing; The various faces of India, whether urban or rural, nothing goes unnoticed if you're travelling. Especially if you're a budding photographer (or at least that's what I think of myself), and you have an eye for these kind of things, something or the other is bound to be catchy sometime. Well except if you're sleeping in the bus, which is what I often end up doing although I would love to enjoy the sceneries.

Just the other day, I was on a bus journey and my eyes spotted these colourful flags on small straws. Nothing like the one in the picture, that's just there 'cause.. well, what's a post without a picture? Anyway so these flags, they were much more awesome (I may be biased here). They were plain‐coloured and of shiny glittery paper and as a child, glitter was totally my thing! I loved anything blingy and bright. And these were the epitome of my desires as a child. It had in it everything I ever wanted.

Seeing them fluttering so carelessly in the breeze in front of that dingy shop somehow awakened something inside me. Something that had been long‐forgotten.. Sudden waves of nostalgia washed me over and over until I realised how blissful childhood really was. Sometimes just a simple flag or a colourful pin‐wheel were enough to make the day, but now the grown‐ups that we are, nothing is sufficient. Nothing is ever enough to satisfy our never‐ending wants (wants, not needs) and we are all carried away with the materialism in this world. No matter what it may be, we never get enough. Enough love, or care, or clothing, or things to fill our houses and shelves with.. what went wrong?

We are never happy with the relationships we are in, or the amount of money we make, the appreciation we get, or the families we are born into. When children are born they are the biggest source of happiness for anyone around them: little bundles of joy. As we grow older the innocence fades, and that complicates things. The more knowledge we seem to gain, the lesser we seem to know to put it to use.

Maybe its time we stopped complaining and whining and find peace and happiness with whatever we have. We were all born with perfect minds, humble, modest and full of enthusiasm. I feel that sometimes all the world really needs is a little more childishness and a little less maturity, and everything will fall into place.