Unity in Diversity.......... R u sure??!!!

Unity in diversity, we have all learnt this at school. We (Indians) have for many years now claimed that despite our differences we stand united. Yes it is true in many a sense. We cheer together on the cricket field, the whole country is ecstatic when somebody wins a medal at the Olympics and we are proud as a group when someone of Indian "origin" takes a walk in space.

But is that enough, are those few and far apart moments enough to cover the otherwise predominant hatred amongst us??.......... You may have read this far and would have already judged me, why is Pravith saying all these things, isn't he patriotic?.......... But think about it for a minute or so, everyday you read the newspaper, there is some ethnic group in some state trying to drive out another group. Are we really united enough to survive and prosper. The moment you step outside your comfort zone (i.e your state) you have language problems and cultural problems, not to mention religious problems (but then to be fair religious problem is not unique to just us, its a problem world over). While a lot of countries have finished fighting their civil wars in bloody battles a century ago, we are fighting ours as a slow but deadly one in the disguise of democracy!!!

And what we fail to see is that we are all sitting in a boiling pot ready to explode. We are held together with glue that is not even as strong as ones on a "post it"!!! Sure, if you look at urban life we are united to a great extent. We live in multi cultural societies and have no problem with it, but India has a very small percentage of urban population and it might just not be enough.

I don't know if I am right with my assessment but we are not even close to being united, its time to get a reality check and uncover the mask before its too late. Political gains and vote bank politics are destroying the vision of Asoka and Akbar. I love my country the way it is and I intend to keep it that way, but I can't do it alone!!!

Power of architecture

I just finished watching a video called "3 warp speed architecture tales", (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AYE3w5TWHs) its a presentation of 3 architecture projects by danish architect Bjarke Ingels at a TED convention. He was dressed in a black t-shirt with a comic book style cloud pointing towards his mouth. Very informal and I loved it. How I wish I could attend my meetings wearing t-shirts and track pants!!.........

Anyways I am not going deeper into his fashion sense. He explained about three projects that he worked on; the skyscraper in Shanghai that looks like a Chinese symbol, an apartment complex + parking lot in Denmark and an urban development master plan on an island in Azerbaijan a country in eastern europe (or western Asia, whichever suits best).

The projects were amazing, no doubt, Ingels is one of the most sought after architects in the world. But what was more amazing was the start of the first two projects and Ingels' honesty in revealing it's story.

He had originally designed the skyscraper in Shanghai as a hotel project in Sweden!!!....... which was rejected by the jury in Sweden....... and when they showed some of their old works to a businessman in China, he loved this particular building because it looked like the peoples symbol in Chinese!!!............. and have now proposed it to be built in Shanghai............

It reminds me of my college days............ when we used to finish our designs and then during the last few minutes look at the design and come up with a concept for it.

The second project, the apartment complex in Denmark was proposed just opposite to the apartment where he currently lives and he took up the project and convinced the owners to change the design in such a way that the view from his apartment is unaffected by the new building............. talk about using the power of architecture!!........... I didn't even know that such powers existed in the field!!!............

Anyways........... watching this video has given me certain amount of confidence in the "powers of architecture" and I am now going to rummage through all my old designs and accumulate them............. you never know ........... one of them might just look like the symbol of the Chinese dragon or something!!!

Gadget Geek

You remember the first time you got yourself a cell phone, well, I do. I didn't buy it, it was a gift from a family friend and boy I loved it. It was a Nokia 1100 (popularly known as the torch phone). I opened the box, admired the little piece for a while and went straight into the instruction manual, well, you see I am one of those people who love reading the manuals. It said the phone needs to be charged for at least 2 hours before use........... Grrrrrr............. another 2 hours ........... damn. Longest 2 hours of my life, I couldn't get anything productive done in those 2 hours!!!

The first thing I did after the 2 hours is play "SNAKE"!!!.......... I had tried it on cellphones borrowed from friends but now I could play all day long for ever............... It's been 4 years and 10 months since that day and I have never played snake after that.

Anyways, I admit I am a gadget geek. Anything new in the market and I am already researching it on the internet. The i-phone introduction by Steve Jobs got me so crazy that I would go to the Apple website and watch the keynote speech over and over again, it's by far the best presentation I have watched.

But what is it about these gadgets that gives us goosebumps? Every small little technological advancement gets us jumping out of our seats and puts us on a crazy path to lay our hands on it. And 10 days later we are looking at the same gadget and saying, "is that all, I wish it had some more features". I personally was on a hunt for an i-phone just to get a feel of the multi touch screen and the pinch feature to zoom a picture.

Gadget geek or not, the very fact that there is something new to move past the boring gadgets we already have is reason enough start up a conversation over coffee (or tea for the likes of me). I honestly declare that I am a gadget geek and I am always on the hunt for a newer (maybe better) product. Having said that, I am looking at my cellphone and I am not liking that outdated piece of junk one bit!!!

The Quintessential public transport

"PIAGGIO APE".......... we know this vehicle today as a commercial transport. But the original Piaggio ape is the great grandfather of our modern autorickshaw.

Devised by an engineer in Italy during the world war, the vehicle was made specifically for transporting goods at a very low cost and also navigate the narrow streets of Italian towns. They transported everything from vegetables to poultry. Today we proudly use it to transport people!!!

We embraced this vehicle into our lives for the very same reason it was invented for, to have low cost transportation. It served well for many years and now we find it hard to let go, change is not something everyone takes kindly. But in the modern society, does this vehicle carry the same importance, isn't it time to move on and by moving on I don't mean make newer versions of the same vehicle, as is the case in our cities now, but to move on to something better for our roads.

Some may argue about the cost factors, true the rickshaw is cheaper than any other transport vehicle (an autorickshaw costs 1 lac rupees on road), but by how much? If we can make a private car for a basic price of 1 lac rupees, is it that difficult to make a public one for the same price and maintain it for cheap.

Some may also argue that the vehicle is designed for weaving through traffic and reaching someplace on time. I tend to disagree on that. It may be very effective in weaving its way around, but it spoils the traffic conditions for the rest of us. Making specific lanes for the rickshaw is difficult, cause it is smaller than the standard car size. They can navigate through some spaces but can't navigate through some others creating more problems than solving. And as far as sharing lanes with the other vehicles goes, with the top speeds that these "apes" have, its gonna be pretty irritating.

The Italians who invented the "thing" don't use it in their cities and highways anymore, they have pushed it to their remote towns and villages. All I am saying is that its time for the "APE" to evolve into something more humane.

Kerala....... My hometown........ or is it??

"My bags are packed, I am ready to go, I am standing here outside the door, the taxi is waiting, he's blowing his horn". The John Denver songs (leaving on a jet plane) comes to your mind every time you embark on a journey, irrespective of your mode of transport.

Anyway, I am packed to go to "KERALA", my hometown. Thats what I have been told from childhood. Kerala is your hometown, your are a Keralite. It took me a while to realize, thats not the truth. I am a Malayalee at most, but not a Keralite. I came to Bangalore when I was 4 months old. I grew up in this city and spent 27 yrs of my life here, now you tell me how does that make me Keralite. All the people who are on a common ground as me (and there are a LOT of us) will understand this. My classmates in school would remember, I used to bring Puliyogare and Lemon rice for lunch, not Puttu or Appam!! I dont like communist ideologies and I swear I have never taken part in a Harthal or bandh.

I have suffered from an identity crisis for ever. People are astonished that I can speak Malayalam fluently but my English is crisp. Crisp as in I can pronounce the words without swallowing the "L".

So my dear friends, the next time I feel like celebrating Ugadi along with Onam, it's OK, thats just who I am or who we are (considering the tons of mallus in b'lore). So let us be..........

My emotional start to blogging

People have a variety of reasons to start blogging. Some just do it for fun, some to help them in their business or their profession, some feel its just a place to let their creative self unfold. Me, I have none of these reasons. I tend to find fun somewhere else, felt there are better places to let people know about my profession, and being in a creative profession I felt no need of a blog to show creativity.

My reason to start blogging sounds very stereotype and on some level, funny too. I started blogging to "change the world". Funny right? Not from where I see it!!

This initiation happened after reading the blog of a friend Yatish, specially his latest blog "http://yatisa.blogspot.com/2010/05/34-change-for-good.html". Somewhere something told me that, maybe, just maybe there is a silver lining. If there is a small chance that a blog page by one of us can open a few eyes, then is it not worth it? Is it not worth 10 mins of our time once a week. Well, I sure think it is.

Mind you, this does not mean I am only going to write "change the world" stuff over here. No, there should be some bullshit too, else a blog is never complete. But sometimes I believe I can write some sense and hope that it actually makes a difference.

So break that bottle of champagne, this ship is set for sail.