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Tuesday 24 July 2018

The Sound of Fallingwater

Visiting The Fallingwater house for the first time to me, was similar to when I visited the TajMahal for the first time. Both these buildings, iconic in their own ways have had a special place in my mind for a long time. It's the build-up experience prior to actually seeing the building , that was very similar and exciting in both cases.

I visited TajMahal in 2009 for the first time - the classic picturesque frame of the tomb, with its reflection in water. As an Indian, one has literally lived with this image since birth - in books, movies, etc. But once you're actually in the grounds, the experience is a whole new feeling. You don't see the actual building until you walk past the series of fort walls , and finally the entrance archway slowly reveals the beauty. It's the moment when years of built-up imagination and reality meet each other. 

The build-up for Fallingwater begins at the very beginning of your architectural journey. The anticipation intensified over the years and after almost 13 years, I was lucky to visit the house. 

The tour began at the visitor center and I could already hear the gushing water hitting the rocks somewhere in the vicinity. It was a short hike in the densely wooded Bear Run nature reserve towards the house. When I got my first sight on the building, I was slightly disappointed as I was not greeted with THE iconic image. I later realised that, like TajMahal, the wow moment was reserved for the last!

After years of lectures, posts and reading material on the Fallingwater about organic architecture, the classic and bold cantilevers, building in harmony with nature, etc- I tried my best to experience the house sans the architectural jargon in my mind and just enjoy the moment for what it was. I have to say it was a truly gratifying experience. 

I feel the astounding genius of Wright is that he managed to create a space, that bowed down to nature, opened out to it in all possible ways, co-existed with it and YET - he managed to conceive an eternal image for his creation. When I was inside the house, I still connected to the outdoors - the rustling leaves of the maple trees, the sound of insects and birds and most of all, the water. Wright has just created a medium to appreciate the setting even more. 

When I finally laid my eyes on the iconic image towards the end of the tour, I couldn't help but smile. Smile and admire the genius of Wright in naming this house very aptly - The Fallingwater. How can something be so invisible, yet stand out? So humble, yet so proud? I would probably never know - I bow down to the genius mind of you, Mr.Wright! 

If at all you get the chance to visit this house, I'd suggest you remove all architectural terms from your mind - stop looking for window details, masonry joints, joinery details, etc - All you have to do is listen. 

Wednesday 14 February 2018

Bomb cyclones to Banana breads

Did I ever tell you the story of how the bomb cyclone in the east coast helped me bake banana bread? Confused? Let me explain. 

So I was sitting on my couch on a very cold winter afternoon, wondering when the temperature would rise above 0° C. I took my phone to check the weather predictions for the next few days - and voila , it lead me to banana bread. 

[Something I realized about "Googling" or "looking up stuff" on the internet - It is kind of similar to your train of thought, but, you're not exactly thinking.]

Anyway, the weather predictions got me reading about the bomb cyclone in the east coast and the winter pattern for the year, which in turn lead me to a suggested post which was titled, " 7 skin care tips for winter". 

[This is a very catchy title these days. People don't just open any link. Believe me , they're lazy like that. If it's called "skin care tips", they'd just skip it. But if you numbered it , say, 7 or 9 - they open it, like it & share it. What's with the number anyway?! It's not even a whole number like 10 or 20. Somehow an "odd" number of tips makes it authentic or believable! Just try typing a random odd number along with the word "tips" and you'd be amazed by the search suggestions in Google. I tried "23 tips" and I found stuff like " 23 tips.... to save iPhone battery, for parents taking selfies, on how to deal with an insecure boyfriend, for drinking more water...etc " Ok, who on earth needs 23 tips to drink water?!] 

As I was genuinely reading about the skin care tips for winter, I came across the benefits of Aloe Vera gel. I wondered if I should get a small indoor plant. I looked up the prize and started looking for pots too. It then struck me that we neither have a balcony nor a window sill to place a planter box. Now this leads to me a whole new world of  'n' number of trains of thoughts, a.k.a links, a.k.a. Amazon.com. I browsed for planters which could be stuck to the window. 

[Once you're logged into Amazon, it's like the whole world is watching you. There is no escape. It is like the snake that tempts you with an apple, or an Apple watch, in this case. They know what you like and what you've bought. They even know the things that you secretly wish you bought. Damn it, they even know what you are going to like in the future! ] 

My browsing history in Amazon suggested me to buy the 8" loaf pan that I've been eyeing for a long time. I ended up buying one in Walmart months ago. Still it made me wonder if the one in Amazon was cheaper/better. I was considering for a moment to buy another one- which made me realize that I haven't baked a single loaf of bread since I bought the pan. This lead to guilt, which lead to determination and resolution and this ultimately lead me to Martha Stewart's Banana bread recipe.

Did you see what happened there? Bomb Cyclone > Winter > Skin care> Aloe vera > Planter > Amazon > Loaf pan > Banana bread! Tada! You can link anything to anyone for that matter. Eg: 21 best movies on Netflix right now (not 20, 21) > Series > Orange is the new black > Orange > Donald Trump! Tada! 

On a serious note, I really miss exploring my mind with endless thoughts - having real conversations with friends jumping from one random topic to another. These browsing sessions are limiting the expanse of our imagination. My train of thought didn't lead me from bomb cyclone to banana bread - I was literally pulled into the train and shoved out of the compartment, into a station that I wasn't prepared to get down! I followed the links, not my thoughts.

We don't talk anymore. It has been reduced to mere posts, comments, reactions and emoticons. Posts about ourselves, our photographs, our accomplishments, our opinions on every other issue in the world - we can't seem to stop talking about ourselves on social media. Are we becoming more and more self absorbed? 

Imagine how absurd the kind of  things we post on social media would sound, if we were to do so in real life? Imagine shouting from your roof top to 500 people about how you just had hot chocolate and how you're "feeling amazed" or try talking to your friend in broken phrases like #sunset #beach #drive. It sounds hilarious and crazy. But that's exactly what we're doing. I think it's time we took a step back and shift the spotlight away from us. Try a social media detox. Talk to a friend if you haven't in a long time. Don't write or text. Call. Hear their voice. Have real fun conversations about dreams, books, music, movies, travel, science, technology, anything. 

If you're my friend and haven't heard my voice in more than two months, say hi, I'll call you or you call me and I will tell you how to bake banana bread.