From the Urban to Rural

I spent the whole of yesterday traveling. The last two nights were spent sleeping on a moving bus as it went taking circles around hills any on the way from Bangalore to Thalassery. As a part of site inspection for a project, I was sent to Thalassery for a day's trip. One in which, the same bus driver who took me from Bangalore to Thalassery, bought me back too.

The trip felt longer than I thought it would. It felt like I was there for days for some reason. It was extremely tiring, because a bus taking circles around hills isn't the best place to sleep. So, as I sat, dazed and exhausted in the house, looking at the surroundings to notice, note and write about everything. After a while of sitting at site, I couldn't help but notice the difference between urban and rural sites. The air was clearer, the noise of traffic and cars wasn't there and there weren't skyscrapers and large buildings covering the skylines. I could hear the birds chirping, water was moving in a stream close by. As I sat on the terrace of the house, I could see the green fields around and wondered how it would look like 20 years in the future. Would it be like Bangalore, dusty and polluted? How was it like earlier, before the house and the structures around came up?

As we travelled back to Bangalore, I could see the environment change. The trees were getting replaced by buildings, the air was stuffier and the sound of birds chirping was replaced by honks. But here I am, traveling back to Bangalore, to build more, to replace more trees by concrete.

Do Architects actually create beauty?