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. 

'Aloo bun bisi beka?'

There is a phase in everyone's life during which they discover themselves. It is when we feel independent, learn through mistakes, laugh at our embarrasments, take risks just for the fun of it and fall in love with our life. It is a roller coaster ride of emotions. Such a phase in my life was the two and a half years i spent in bangalore.

This is not an emotional post but i just wanted to pen down some of the lighter moments, the priceless moments which i will never get back in my life and these moments would always make me smile even when im 80 with no teeth!

These are few of those special moments with my  office friends which i really miss...

sitting in juice shop for lunch and staring at movie posters in kamakya theatre.

word wars with the juice shop guy:
"ondhu grape juice"
"banana beka"
"......GRAPEEE..."

occasional dinner at vaishali,
listening to philosophical talk by varun. Sometimes, ashish.

Rushing to office at 9AM..Having Sneha's breakfast.

Ramakanth's "hasssssiiiiiiiiiii.."

Lassi.

Standing outside the office gate debating which place to go for dinner, for an hour.

Janavi's "ARE YOU SERIOUS!??"

The server at Beijing bites who looks at us like a chinese movie villain everytime we go there.

The bakery aunty who *blushes* everytime she sees Rohit.

Their weird family.

Usha aunty.

"hello..ochre architects?"

Kachori guy.

Anna sambar at roti shop followed by curd rice with yummy tomato curry and crispy potato chips.

Shannon's "sorry whaa?"

Laughing continously for half an hour , not sure why. (the reason could be as trivial as the alphabet 'M')

Our unfriendly neighbour Suresh and his friendly cops.

Occasional visits to Chung wah, ordering weird stuff. Courtesy- Varun.

"en kadhal solla.."

Last minute movie plans and 2 minute dinner at McD.

Roaming around inside Croma for half an hour, not buying anything.

Saravana's "eeeeeeyyyy BEERENDRAA"

Nightouts.

Checking out portfolios of people who have applied, acting like crits.

Joshua's "enu gotha josshh"

Missing coffee at 10:30/3:30 and becoming restless.

Corn at Big bazzar.

No it's 'C'.

Weekend trips.

Muruku&sweets distribution after coming back from home.

"dude i have no money da.."

"Could have had it all"

"Thats what"

"Is it done?" / "Its done, is it?"/ "Its done, right?"

Jp nagar central mall.

Belting double cheese margerita at dominos.

KFC dinners.

Bajji shop on rainy days.

"do we have enough bikes?"

...well there are lots more..these are the ones i could immediately remember..above all i miss the fun,laughter,music and love..

Miss you all.

It's normal to be weird

Sometimes it seems weird that you don’t feel weird about doing something weird in life.  Over the past few years of my life, i have become so used to this, that i feel absolutely normal to be weird. Yes, i am an architect.

Most of the time, we (architects) are surrounded by weirdo’s (fellow architects) like us, that we feel our world is perfectly normal, until we step outside.

• Walking into a restaurant, looking at the floor and thinking: “ that tile looks familiar.. oh yeah it is 6303B rustic finish” 

• Going to a bank, without a pen but a bunch of pencils ranging from 2B to 6B in your pocket.

• The feeling you get when you are unable to explain something (it might be an incident which took place down the road) to a person, and you HAVE to sketch it out on a piece of paper (sometimes in plans/sections/3D views) for them to understand better.  Otherwise, you feel handicapped.

• When you enter a movie theatre and can’t stop staring at the false ceiling or the acoustically treated walls

• Getting offended when your ‘non-architect’ friends ask you after you have worked whole night,

“Oh you had a night shift?”

“It is NOT a night shift. I did a NIGHT OUT”

• During travel, when somebody exclaims,

“did you see that??”

“yeah..horrible colours in the facade right”

“uh.. i was talking about the guy who fell down his bike.. Never mind “

• When you have a deadline tomorrow and you hear your friends say,

“it is only 12:30 am.. Still there’s lot of time”

• when you realise you just can’t work without coffee and your favourite music

• the sudden feel of guilt when you think you have slept for 8hours the previous night.

• When you just can’t gift a person “a show case piece” . Every time you have to gift something , it is like a mind boggling experience, and it is almost a NECESSITY that you come up with something different and creative.

• When staying up all night is so much easier than getting up early in the morning

• When the first thing you do after entering a lift, is to check the make of it.

• When you see a really tall person, you exclaim “he is almost lintel height!!”

Under usual circumstances, people normally consider the above said things as “weird”.

But we don’t, which is still normal.. Proud to be an architect..

Unresolved corners

"Corners" - the most ignored parts of a space. Supposedly.

Unattended. Uninviting. Dark. Unnoticed. UNRESOLVED.

Corners can be so bland that it is completely out of vision or it can be expressed so strongly that it starts creating an impact.

Maybe if you are an architect , you would be able to relate to this much easier 'cause in the process of designing spaces , you would have come across many such "unresolved corners" .

But, I'm not talking architecture here. It is that corner in a person's mind which remains "unresolved" that drags my attention.

There are so many things/persons which/who become part of this dark secret corner of the mind. In every person's life he comes across people whom he never wishes to resolve issues with. Not that he doesn't want to, but it just doesn't happen.

It can be a secret high school crush, a movie which you've been wanting to see but somehow it never happens, a person that you really hate but you cant express, things that you wish you could change about your life but you know you can't,a misunderstanding that you had with your childhood friend but you somehow did not talk it out and kept postponing ,to tell someone that you like them and you would do anything for them ... simple things like that , keeps piling up in that corner. It remains there forever and stays unresolved. It will be always.

When was the last time you told your mom that she cooks so well or your colleague that he/she has done an awesome work in a presentation or your friend that he/she is looking good that day or wondered how beautiful the moon is or a "thanks" to the salesman in the garments showroom for showing so many dresses at a time or accepted your mistake in front of others..?

There are these things which should be let out, come out to the light.. After all a small bit of appreciation is what every heart yearns for! So don't let all these pile up in the corners of your mind.

On the other hand, there are few things which looks good in a corner. Meant to be in a corner. Small, beautiful things. I don't really know how to explain that, but there are certain things which are meant to be "unresolved". you should just let it be. somethings look the best just the way they are. unattended. I am sure each one of us have that corner in our mind which is a world known only to us and we would like it to stay that way. Let that "unresolved corner" be . Let it be.

Kadabavanam

I faintly remember the 1st time I was in this city. It was during a school trip from Trichy to Kanyakumari. We were travelling in bus and i woke up in the middle of the night and asked sleepily

"which place is this?!"
somebody replied " I guess it is Madurai"

I put my eyes close to the window and tried hard to catch a glimpse of this city to which i have never been to and i didnt think at that point of time , that i would come again.

It was after 5 years after i finished school that i realised that i am going to be spending a major part of my life in this city also known as "The Athens of the East".

It was only when dad got transferred and we almost left madurai, that i realised how close this place was to me. I didnt really want to leave , and now that we are NOT actually moving out,it made me so happy and write this blog.

When i first moved into Madurai, I loathed it. I found it to be the most boring place on earth. My friends were bored too, complaining about how Madurai did not have any place to "hang out" .

Well, Madurai is much more than that. It is deep. It is original. It is innate. There are external influences, ofcourse, but the city still manages to retain its rawness, and that is why i fell in love with this place.

So what is so special about this place? There are many things in madurai (only in madurai) which are special.

The world famous meenakshi temple.
The ladies selling idli on the street.
Jasmine flowers(Madura malli) which are being air-lifted to London, France, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai everday.
Magnificent Nayak palace.
Jigarthanda - a drink you should never miss.
Murugan Idli kadai..(Idli tastes the best here)
Festivals - anything and everything in Madurai will be celebrated. Election results,exam results, cricket match , marriages, temple fest , anything u name, there are fireworks always..

Speaking of festivals, the best time to visit madurai is during "chithirai tiruvizha". It is a temple festival but Madurai is vibrant in its fullest form in this season , which comes in summer time. People from in and around Madurai come and celebrate and the city is full crowded for that whole week. People even stay in petrol bunks during this time during lack of space.

People of madurai are fun loving. They love entertainment. There is some exhibition or the other which keeps on happening in the city. Home needs, book fair, arts n crafts or fun exhibition anything...

Dir Maniratnam, Dir Bala, Dir Bharathiraja, Maestro Ilayaraja, the legendary MS Subulakshmi, T V Soundarrajan (founder of TVS), Lyricist vairamuthu, Actor vadivelu.. are some of the famous personalities from Madurai..(few that i know)

Well what can i say, i cant help but find everything about madurai special! What else did i miss? oh yeah.. the famous prema villas halwa (SHOULD NOT BE MISSED) , burma idiyappam too..

And the people here especially, they are hardworking , straight forward, adamant may be, and very strong in expressing both their love and hatred.

A small incident to explain this would be when i had gone with my friend to have some juice, i had kept some in my glass without finishing it. When the cleaning lady asked if she can clear it, i said yes coz i felt i cudnt have more.

The lady lifted the glass saw the juice inside and exclaimed "Innum padhi juice apdiyae iruku? en kudikala" (meaning u still have left half of the juice without drinking why?") I just smiled. It was like a mother asking her child. Its that connection u feel , the bonding, which i dont know if i will experience in any other place. Maybe yes Maybe no.

Madurai is a part of my life now. Have had many memorable moments in this beautiful city. My college life , class bunking and watching movies in theatres - mani impala, palanganatham jeyam (was my 1st theatre visit in madurai) , cinipriya, mapillai vinayagar, vetri, madhi, ambiga, devi kalaivani, jazz, thanga reegal, guru (saw avatar in tamil here :D ) , tamil jeya.. i guess ive been to all theatres in madurai.. i dont know what i have missed.. Madurai will always remain one of the best chapters of my life.

PS: Kadabavanam was what madurai was originally called.
And for ppl who think Maddur vada is from Madurai, NO IT IS NOT!

Watching..sorry.. "EXPERIENCING" a Rajnikanth movie

I've been an ardent fan of superstar since my childhood days.. maybe since "Rajathi Raja" as far as i remember.. I still remember watching "EJAMAN" N no of times and narrating the story to my classmates OVER n OVER n OVER again .. and "BADSHAH" need not mention.. the excitement of watching a Rajnikanth movie cannot be described.. I remember going with my dad to theatre for 3 days continously and then return home without getting ticket for "MUTHU" (there were no online reservations then) ..

And after so many years, watching ENDHIRAN, i still felt the same.. the same excitement of watching superstar on screen.. :) i can say no other actor has such screen presence!

I reserved my tickets for 3rd day afternoon show.. and i was so excited that even when i was about to sleep the previous night , i kept thinking about the next day ;) the same feeling i get the night before diwali when i was a kid!

We reached the theatre half an hour before. The banners and hoardings, the decorations, the excitement all around, DAMN - nothing/ no one can EVER match this except superstar

There was an autostand outside the theatre and i just managed to listen the last line of their conversation when one guy said.. " சூப்பர் ஸ்டார் நா சூப்பர் ஸ்டார் தான் " ..
Well ofcourse! :)

There were ppl from villages in and around madurai with small kids who were probably visiting a theatre for the first time! the excitement on their face, curiosity of what this movie is going to be like was great to look.. they were singing "kilimanjaro" in chorus.. :)

once people were inside the theatre, there was the usual whistling and screaming and shouting - THE PERFECT AMBIENCE for watching a superstar movie - can give any amount of money for this rather than paying 500rs or 1000rs in a multiplex and watching a movie sitting still and just clapping.. ;)

highest decibles will be reached when the name " SUPER STAR RAJNI " appears on the screen.. and சூப்பர் ஸ்டார் வாழ்க slogans.. :)

Personally, the story was just ok.. but i LOVED thalaivar's performance especially as CHITTI.. :)

In the blacksheep scene when chitti says 'meeaaaahhhh' there was continous applause for 5mins.. It was great to see that scene.. Rajni the actor still lives :)

for every 10mins (minimum) there will b a dialogue or scene or stunt where superstar gets the applause..

Well, i know this movie has been criticized by many.. but what the heck i dont care :) coz not all bus conductors become superstars.. and Rajnikanth deserves it!

Love u superstar :) please give us more movies..

LEARNING TO SAY "NO"

NO – it is mostly perceived as a negative sign. Pessimistic. Inauspicious. But i say NO. I mean sometimes you HAVE to say “NO” to someone at some point of time.

Imagine how many times do you say “yes” in a day?
YES/OK/SURE/ALL RIGHT.

We tend to become submissive by saying yes or agreeing to something all the time. Most of the cases we say yes but we don’t really mean it!

“Can you finish this report by evening?”
“Yes”(Is he mad? How can i possibly finish this within few hours?”)

“Please can i come with you for the movie?”
“Sure” (Oh no.)

“fine.. she will take topicA and YOU will take topicB”
“but.. i don’t..”
“You should be doing it!!”
“OK”(this sucks!)

“Are you sure you want to delete this?”
“Yes”Even to a computer!

How nice it would be, if we all could just tell what we think in our minds and just say “no” and refuse something we don’t like?

What stops us? Mostly it’s the fear of the aftermath. Come on.. why bother about the others. I think I should be happy that i have said “NO” and stood up for myself by not doing what i don’t want to.

I’m gonna start trying this from this new year by learning to say “NO” 
Happy New year everyone! :)

PS: This post is inspired from the movie “WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS” from the quote: I'd rather do nothing and be happy than do something I know I don't love :)

Lesson No.1 : Have change before you get into a bus!

7:50am I can still make it have 15mins at hand..Breakfast done. Tied my hair. Faster faster.Calculator,pen,pencils...off u go inside the bag..!

I'm missing something here.. My ID card! They won't let me inside the exam hall if i don't show them the card...

ID card ID cardddddddd...Where did it gooo?!

8:00am There's still hope of making it to the bus stop if i start RIGHT now!
But where is the ID carrrdddd...aaarrgggh... OH thank GOD! There it is... Wonder who put it under my bed?! :D hehe

8:10am No chance of boarding my college bus. It would sure have gone by now. Oh nooo..the crowded city bus ?! That too on an exam day :(

Thanks to dad.. i reached the bus stop and wow a direct bus and that is not crowded! My lucky day! Waved at dad and got inside..1st seat.. phew!

Opened my purse and all that was inside was a 100rs note... No change.
I turned to the lady sitting next to me.

ME: ermm...uh..excuze me? Do u have change for 100rs ?
LADY: -------------- (a cold stare)
ME: uh ok thanks!

Phew! HOW MEANNN... I promised myself that i should never turn that side again!
I tried asking people around but more cold stares and few kind hearted people managed to reply with a "NO" (without even checking their pockets of course!)

What a world :-/ I decided to face it. I gathered courage to speak up to the conductor.

Conductor: Where?
ME: Engineering college.. uh you see i dont have change ( sheepish smile)
Conductor: Engg college? and you are giving me 100rs? !$%$%^@$%#$@%$#*#&@*#&@**#@*#@#*@*&#*@ early morning @$#^@$#^%$@%$@#
ME: ------ *blink blink*
Conductor(loudly) : NOW give me that!

He snatched the 100rs note and disappeared into the crowd. I sat there still blinking!
I slightly turned my head that side.. NO don't look... the cold stare again! Did i just commit a crime or something?!! :-O

I waited anxiously for the conductor to return. He did cross me several times and I'm sure I saw a bunch of 10s and 20s in his hand! And I couldn't believe he wouldn't give me the change willfully!

I felt like I'm trapped between the conductor on one side and of course Mrs. Meany on the other! :-|

Finally few moments before my stop arrives I get my change back with a killer look on the conductor's face!

ESCAPE! So relieved I got down from the bus! Off I go to the exam hall..

9:30am.. Great! Right on time! The question paper was in front of me.

I opened my pouch to take my pen out and GUESS WHAT?!

There was a 10rs note inside my pouch! :-O

So Lesson No. 2 ? If you have change with you, KEEP IT IN YOUR PURSE! :-/

What a day!

Laziness or just deep thinking??

well heres one thing i ve learnt about blogging as of now!

Its not meant for lazy bones like me :D :D

keep updating the blog (thats not quite easy for people like me! )
anyways i hope my next post comes out a bit sooner~~~~~

My 1st ever blog :)

Well im new to this blogging thing... Just in the process of xploring the "Blogger's world"

Hoping to get 'into it' soon :D

Welcome to the dreamer's world...