Jaipur, A city of color

Amber Fort Jaipur. Photo by: Kiri

Jaipur has a charm of its own. The moment I stepped into this city some odd 9 years ago I knew I would love it.

And I was not disappointed.

A gateway to the flamboyant state of Rajasthan, Jaipur is one of the leading tourist destination of India. And it is not so by any luck, chance or proximity to the national capital, (thought that helps).

It is a symbiotic mix of the old and the new. Even though it has stepped into the 21^st century and is now a part of the Prime Minister’s “Smart City” initiative, Jaipur doesn’t forget its roots. Through the new there is always something old peeking like a reminder of its colorful past. An epitome to the Indian heritage it is the pink jewel of Rajasthan.

Wide roads cluttered with autos, rikshaws, motorbikes and Jaguars it is the city of indulgence. And by god do the people know how to indulge. One loses the sense of time while walking in the walled city, you wouldn’t want to leave unless you have seen every jharokha on its façade. At the heart of the old is the City Palace. Still a house to the Royal family of Jaipur. A little further is the formidable Amber fort. And if you go a little higher you come across Nahargarh fort. If you have an option, end your day there. With a magnificent view of the city and the sunset with a cold one in your hand.

It is hard not to get overwhelmed by its grandeur and heritage.

There is something for everyone in this city. Be it architecture, culture, color or even coffee.

Jaipur has a charm of its own…

Flexible Office Space

My office for this day has turned out to be the airport. Being in a fortunate position as I am, I got the fabulous option of working from different spaces. Probably even write about these spaces. 

So Airports

It is really fun to sit in a corner in an airport and observe people running around. It is like an elaborate railway station with extra security. Except for the good-looking pilots (admit it, every single one of us peasants turn around when one of those show up, and they do so very often) and overpriced beverages there isn’t much difference. 

There is a general belief amongst architects that airports need to be a space showing the fellow travelers the collective beauty of the city they have landed upon. But instead, it just ends up being a cheap copy of the same, with big franchises gulping commercial spaces and little nooks left for maybe a plastic flex of a regional dance form.

Ah! But alas! Who cares about context? In the 21st century everything is about the international style, or rather the lack of style internationally. 

Don’t all airports look like the same Charlie Foxtrot? 

I’ll tell you what I do like about the airport, (apart from the pilots I mentioned earlier).

Flying.

I love flying. Or instead, I love the phase before the flying, the silence before the storm when the plane is positioning itself on the runway standing still in anticipation of taking off. 
Then it starts. Slowly at first. Like dipping its feet nimbly before diving. And suddenly the propellers propel, the thrusters thrust and you are pushed back on your seat as the steel seal gains speed, faster… faster… FASTER! Until finally it leaves the Earth aiming for the zenith. 
Once it is above the clouds, everything is silent… there is nothing to do but sit and stare at the no smoking light above you. And at that moment, mid-air becomes a perfect space for work. 

Speaking of office space. Not being tied to a simple desk to work on, maybe a boon as well as a bane at the same time. So maybe I will leave you guys with a question this time as I go.

If I take work back home with myself. Work that I don’t entirely hate but actually enjoy. Is it still considered a holiday? Am I still working?

Can I do this more often? XD

This was your friendly blogger Shreya, 

Reporting 32000 ft from the earth.

Signing out!

Project 356

As I got pretty good reviews on the last blog I wrote (for those of you living under a rock, Introducing the interns) luckily I got to kick working drawings out of my life and drag the blog in.

Sai is a great believer that if you love something, do it obsessively. And though my obsession never gets to see the light of the other day it has become my goal to take up a Project 356 (or at least a project 90?). The point being I will be updating every day, at least one post talking about (if not architecture) the life of an intern.

It could be about anything, from design to basic Sandarbh gossip. It would be a picture from the eyes of Shreya “The intern”.

Starting off I believe my first project 365 should be about my one true love. This being Valentine's day it would be almost poetic.

Architecture.

The mother of all arts, architecture has been the most talked about field than its other sisters, sculpting and art. One may not understand art but one definitely understands architecture. It is a language of the senses. And in today’s world people are realizing the real importance of it.

And one might pontificate there are several things great about architecture. It is beauty (but what is beauty?). It is luxury (but what is luxury?) and it is necessity. But nothing listed above tells us what lies within. The true soul. The real question. What makes it so darn relevant?

If words are used for documenting the past events. Architecture would be used for documenting the past experiences. And so in that experience we find the connection to the people who were.

And that makes it relevant.

That makes it beautiful, luxurious and a necessity.

Introducing the Interns

We have been busy busy busy here at Sandarbh this season with the Banarhalli, KnK, Linu’s and so many more. Six new interns including me joined this year. And counting the old four, the total makes it ten! And so on behalf of the interns I would like to introduce all of us new to the Sandarbh family, and congratulate those who opted to continue for another semester.

Starting with the old interns, and by old I don’t mean grey hair I mean the ones continuing working with us for another semester.

The first and foremost our guardian angel Kavi. She is the oldest and the youngest intern of Sandarbh. The sweet, helpful Kavi. Be it sketchup or hunting for flats, Kavi is you gal. Apart from being the go to savior Kavi has a dark streak and Jamsheed knows it pretty well. With her regular teasing and mean comments that we all love, Kavi Bharathi is the one to hang out and know will be taken care of.

Then comes Kiri, he likes to call himself the “visionare” of the firm, though I keep on telling him the word he is trying to find is “visionary”. Of course he disagrees… every time. One could describe him to be a sweet thing but in reality he is a slippery thing who is best in getting away with his escapades by his sweet smile and cheeky words. (Of course Sai is immune to all that and sees right through his beguile).

Next would be the fearless Aafreen. She may look like your regular competitive, plucky, energetic, tenacious, who does most of her work on the phone, but she is just so much more. She is also a caring individual with a soft heart, but she makes sure it doesn’t affect her work. (You wouldn’t want to see her when she is angry).

And then the brooding Shaz. The tough guy who is so sure he has all the answers. However realized he was Jon Snow the moment he met Sai, as did we all. It is not often we get to see Shaz in the office. He works off the site mostly. However when we do he is mostly sitting with people having a heart to heart. (We see through you Shaz! You marshmallow!).

And with that we are done with the old interns and will be moving on to the new ones.

It has been almost a month all of us have been together but believe me when I say it seems longer. So let’s go alphabetically shall we?

Drashti Meena is the working drawing expert of the office who makes mean autocad drawings. Apart from being scary efficient in her work she is a funny but blunt individual who goes after a problem with a club. There is only one problem she has yet to solve and that is her overbearing roommate who may remain anonymous.

Jamsheed or as he liked to be called Jamshy is like a teddy bear of the studio. He has a heart of gold who wants to start being capable enough to start taking care of his parents as soon as possible. But that is not enough. As it may turn out he has dreams of going for a long bike ride across the Himalayas and live in tents. Always be your forgiving self Jamshy.

Meghna is a workaholic. Period. If she gets work and she is unable to do it during work hours, she will make sure to take it home and do it all night until it is finished. But work aside. She is an observant person who knows very well what’s going around in the office. That’s why her hair is so thick… they are full of secrets. Jokes apart she is highly sensitive and is able to find the best in people and help them in adversities.

And then there is Ritika, the smartest of the all. She is always on time, be it for a deadline or be it leaving office. According to her it is mostly because she is dead scared of Bengaluru traffic. But we all know it’s because she has a life… the girl with the strangest talents also tells us she can form the Olympics logo with my bendy fingers. Truly strange.

Siddharth a.k.a Sid is barely seen in the office. He is out running around from site to site. Or off works “hangs with his friends” that we all know don’t exist. There was a time when he was in office but now his Sheldon spot has been taken by Drashti… and he does not like it. He has a strange ability to say all the wrong things and then get blasted for it. But it is also his best quality so I guess we will let it pass.

And last but definitely not the least, it is yours truly Shreya Singh. I like to think I am a multitasking superstar who would be great with everything thrown towards me. Of course my Jon Snow moment came a little late, becoming a humbling instant to know that’s not true. The rest of the interns like to call me the critic of Sandarbh, I like to call myself insightful. (And with that my self-praise should end or else I would be on top of the Empire state once again.)

And so in the end, I, on behalf of the interns, would like to thank the incredible team for making us feel welcomed to the firm.

Why Sandarbh?

We often get asked the question, "Why Sandarbh?"

Sandarbh is a word which is common to multiple Indian languages. In Sanskrit, it translates to the word - context.

So, before elaborating on that, we are going to tell you a story - about stories. Imagine that you are walking through the streets of Pondicherry, enjoying the wide streets lined with trees, the colourful buildings and the architecture. People are cycling around you, you can hear the ocean waves hitting the rocks, a beautiful story is being created. But imagine if the same streets are placed in Rajasthan desert. Would the story still be the same?

No architecture can be explained without it's context. You cannot talk about a beach house without explaining it's views,  the shopping mall does not have a story if it's placed in isolation.

Sandarbh is this story that revolves around architecture.

The Sandarbh of a building can be anything that influences it. It can be the street that it opens up to, it can be the features of the site or the location it is placed in. The socio- cultural environment of the surroundings of the building can form it's context. Or, like in Pondicherry's case - the heritage of the area can be the context.

A building's context can even be it's owner. Your childhood memory of the long French windows at your ancestral home,  the books that line up the shelves at your mother's house or the balcony where you sat and watched the stars at night. These memories converts into ideas which fuels architecture built for you.

And that, is precisely why Sandarbh. 

Return to blogging..

I have been intending to start blogging again for some time now, as I complete 20 years in this beautiful profession of architecture, Design and construction there is so much to talk about and share. So I feel strongly the desire to share some stories and experiences collected over a period of time. so the first post after a long time  is just a hi and a commitment to return to blogging....

Borewell,@ the Singh's residence..

I find the way Borewells are drilled in bangalore very interesting, We had the oppurtunity of getting a borewell done at one of our projects recently. I thought I would share some images ..

One of the things I find very fascinating is how well organised they are in terms of their own needs, they always come with a cook and the basic ingredients in a very well organised box, so as the bore is being drilled the food and the tea is happening parallely..

The workers after a whole day of their search for water.....They stay with the rig, sleeping under it at night and moving from site to site.