How do we sense thinking? Do we hear it? What is making the vibrations? Do we read it from our minds? How are our five senses helping? Or is it our sixth sense?



I was about to start this sentence with “I am amused by-” and stopped myself with a grin. :)



People get ‘bored’ rather easily in life- my brother comes to my mind immediately. As I understand it, he is in a state of boredom more than not, any given day. I don’t understand it. There are so many things to do, so many questions to ask- that there is no time! Do you know what exactly how a fighter plane can fly upside down? Do you know why MS columns in the porch need a base? Do you know how an operating system is infected when there is a virus on your computer? What is a virus? Why do we have seasons? Why does it cost so much to be unique? Why is an idea so expensive? How does the stock market directly affect my life? ASK!



Life seems to have meaning again; it seems to me that my work is directly affecting something concrete- the choices I make are making a difference- I don’t seem like one of the useless million anymore. I am more comfortable with myself now- I am at peace in the head. I have an endless list of questions, but I have learnt to live with them till I find the answers. I think it is the ‘growing up’ that most believe has been long-pending. My faith in the human race is restored- whatever that means. :)

I would never deny structure; I would rather express the strength of materials that make my building. If he wants a 1200 depth for an 18’ cantilever beam, I would give it to him. I would even exaggerate it. I would want to show that it’s a cantilever, and that it has taken innovation to design and make possible the building. I wouldn’t want to pass it off as an ordinary beam- I would make efforts to highlight it. I’m going to have to open my own office for that, then. :)



What happens when the cat crossing your path is half white and half black??



A thin stroke of black tracing the bottom edge of one’s eyes can make spectacular changes in the face, and yet go unnoticed as an individual element. People are struggling to trace the source of this change in my face- ‘Something is different,’ they say, staring- ‘Have you cut your hair??’
Hehehe...



‘There is always hope’, she says- I wonder if it’s a human property. To be optimistic, to think; to make yourself believe that it is possible- to wait.
Were apes hopeful that their day will come?

Shadows can lie; they can modify reality- they can make you look thinner, taller.. They don’t necessarily let you see what you want to see- almost as though they have a mind of their own...The purity of the shadow with its loyal quality has been corrupted in my mind; it will be long before I trust a shadow again.



A yoga teacher joins the dorm- just when I was thinking it could not get more diverse.



Naveen looks like a “dude” these days- all macho- his visits to the gym cannot be hidden anymore- the mass is bursting out from underneath his shirt. He needs new clothes! Hehe...



I am beginning to notice block colours these days- bursts of a bold colour stripped of all ornamentation- the midnight blue sky, the colour of the red ink on my fingertips, that of the endless brown sand and the heavenly blue of the sea- they are hitting my eyes distinctly. I like the edges- those between block colours- their near-invisible quality leaves me wanting to explore them- the thinness brings to my mind the voice of Shreya Ghoshal- a clear, crisp and continuous thin line. Sheesh- I must, MUST improve with the analogies!

I have finally bought it- the travel book, the guide to organizing my loafing around the country! “INDIA”, it says- I am marking those places that I already have explored, and those that I can fit into my budget for the year to come- India now, the world next! :)



I remember thinking three years back- the future of ‘good’ architecture in India is poor- I was convinced that even thirty years later, we will still be studying Charles Correa and Doshi for “Contemporary” Architecture- Sudheendra Sir wasn’t too optimistic; it looks to me, though, that we have survived- the book I am holding reads ‘Contemporary Indian Architecture’- Anupama Kundoo, Rahul Mehrotra, Sanjay Mohe, Rahul Gore, Matthew & Ghosh, Rajesh Ranganathan, Gurjit Singh, Vijay Narnapatti, and many more- HURRAH!



Bangalore is coo-oo—oold.



The one thing fundamentally wrong with my ‘writing’ skills is that I don’t seem to be able to maintain the tense of the sentence- I keep jumping from the past to present to future. You will even see all three in one sentence! Damn- someone forgot to tell me the ‘rules’! :)

My watch is 7 minutes fast. Because its really difficult to subract 7 from a number. I would rather be 7 mintues early. :)




Getting engaged means a lot of things- my roommate has had a good dose of its ill effects recently. It is that moment which, in one go, puts everything in place -and- blows into bits most of what you wanted your life to be. I can see it coming- and I am not liking this calm before the storm. I am sure I will look back at this time with a sheepish grin on my face- probably telling my grandchildren not to lose patience in this time- and that it is never going to come again.




I am beginning to realise the importance of the non-visible side of life; that side which is more important than the one that is seen- and yet that one which goes completely un-noticed. The shuttering in a building is more important than anything else; the frame of view is more important than the view itself- and the foreground to a visual is more important than what is seen. Really, imagine if the Taj Mahal did not have it's spectacular foreground? This is precisely why the damn grass is greener on the other side- someone forgot to mention the distance of view. Geoffrey Bawa is the king of frames- and Corbusier understood the flow of concrete not with straight lines of cars- but with those of the concrete moulds. The ones who realise and observe the unseen are the ones who know how to modify the seen- and someday, I want someone to write about me as one who did!




I am on a travelling spree again; 5 cities in 7 days- covering half of India doesn't take too long- that too, with someone else's money!

“Mechanics is the most beautiful part of all sciences.” I don’t think so. I think it’s the curious nature more than the exploration itself.

Taking inspiration from my friend who has always asked me to ‘let go’ and be less uptight, I tried a brave thing yesterday. Listening to songs on my way back home, I sang loudly with the song- something that I would never think appropriate. I kept thinking of my friend all along- and he was right- I need to be more free in the head; I need to be able to ‘let go’. It also helps that I am in a new city. This reminds me of a scene in one of my favourite movies- “Disguise changes everything”- new places and new people give courage- to be and do things you once never thought possible. I think Mumbai is going to help me more than expected.

Today I felt good about having slogged through architectural graphics- felt like I didn’t slog as much as some others- I saw a 7 centered arch. And it was built in stone. Imagine the pain! :)

Gujrati is the next language I want to learn. Yeah. Although my tamil is not yet as good as I want it to be, I think a little deviation will help. Mango will help me with it anyway. Navigating through remote villages of Gujrat not only gives one a crisp chocolate brown tan, but also the urge to want to be able to communicate with the locals better. Really, I felt so helpless when I was trying to ask a rather shy lady the directions to Modhera, and she was simply staring blankly at my face! Throughout the crowded bus journeys from one destination to another, I was (-apart from dozing off-) trying to read gujrati; the script is cunningly similar to hindi/marathi, only with a few letters replaced by distinct types of jalebies. Hehehe...

Arjav is overwhelmingly warm; I cannot believe the amount of goodness that bounces off him. There is a concern - a seemingly endless one- for all. It is very, very difficult to meet people like him, and this week has been a jumbo pack! I mean, where are they raining from? I am glad they are- it is giving me a fresh belief in friendship. Beautiful timing, too.




I have been paying a lot of attention to the clothes I wear these days. It matters to me- what I am wearing- and I have come to realize that it reflects a lot of personality. I am more involved in the design and detailing of clothes than ever before; am also more aware of what is happening in the fashion world. If I were a fashion designer, I would be obsessed with architecture. :)




I don’t know how people survive in India without being able to communicate in hindi. Either they don’t travel, or their body language rocks!

I have always been on the asking side of questions; all my reactions and observations lead to questions- it is almost like a disease! It is also the easiest way to communicate with overwhelming seniors/interesting strangers/awkward uncles- ask a relevant question, and you’re done! No matter who it is on the other side, the answer always constitutes something you don’t know or haven’t heard yet- hence worth at least one ear. You can let the other one deviate- along with the eyes, it can find interesting directions for the next question! :)

Apparently, “Amrita, your color is black. The colour of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and an uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to set challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them — your strength of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegance, impresses people. But keep in mind that your personality might be intimidating to some. Try to temper your demanding side with a little softness — trust us, it won't kill you. Overall, though, black is the colour of professionalism and achievement, which means it's clearly the colour for you.” H O W I R O N I C !

The following list was made during an extremely formal, intellectual and serious discussion about the (dis)advantages of me moving to Pune for internship-

1. Pune has no corner house- I will starve.
2. Bangalore is a capital city, while Pune is not.
3. Charles Babbage is Christian- Jai Hind!
4. Bangalore STD code is numerically 4 times larger than that of Pune.
5. I am already familiar with Bangalore slang.
6. There can never be a Vidhan Soudha in Pune.
7. Pune is hot- can’t wear dear old jackets.
8. Pune does not have khara bath.
9. I will have to eat dosa with a fork and knife.
10. Smitha will get a haircut if I go.

And she eventually did- the day I moved to Mumbai. The Chattri. I miss her- I miss the continuous yelling, combined with the endless treats I trick her into. :)

I had my first experience of the “Mumbai social life” today. I saw them- the celebrities, the constant flashes of light, the porcelain skin, the spectacular heels, the dressed hair and the kisses in the air. So many of them- each with a glass in hand and a forced smile on the face. What is beyond me, though, is the definition of a “socialite”. What is their job description? Where do they draw their salary from?



I am a hopeless, hopeless romantic! Hehehe...



‘Modification’ is the root of all evil; it is the reason why architects, structural consultants, plumbing consultants, contractors, and also the clients- are frustrated. The process begins to drag; the joy and freshness of idea rots under the eroding scrape of repetition- “welcome to the real world”. It is the place where management becomes more important than design, where money is more important than quality of space, and where ‘faster’ means everything is to be compromised. The core, though, has a strange way of retaining itself- the spaces survive- and that day is the only incentive for the architect- it is the day when the daylight flooding in from the openings remind her of the earliest sketches of the space; it is that day when an architect thinks back- of all her successes- and adds one to the list. Tomorrow, it’s back to the frustration. Cheers!



"The Congo is as ferocious as the Nile"- I wonder where in the range our Ganga comes!

"The darkness of losing a friend and the thought of losing green to concrete...In loving my city I have come to hate it more than I can bear. It is in spite of the city itself- it is beacause of what has been done to it. The tide of speculation has decreed to banish open space and greenery in favour of boxes for shopping and living. Sunlight is a rarer commodity still. The plants, merry in a wild overgrown garden by a lake, find comfort in each other's shadows, shying away from the eroding gaze of ramphant 'development'. Perhaps they count their days. Perhaps they care less and dance away in the nostalgia of a tropical breeze."




To worship a book is such a pure thought; it is such a divine direction to take- the minute you begin to give human form to something that is not human, things start to get fuzzy. To worship an idol brings with it an inevitable association- something that allows a grey area, a layer of sponge- to those who want to find their own definitions of the ‘ultimate’...This is where the lines between the ‘not-so-good’ and ‘not-so-bad’ get smudged; there are multiples- and clear direction is lost in the complication of loyalties. Help!




“Aakhone mein jiske koi to khwaab hai,
Khush hai wohi jo thoda betaab hai..
Zindagi mein koi arzoo kejiye, phir dekhiye...

Hoton pe jiske koi to geet hai,
Woh hare bhi to uski hi jeet hai..
Dil mein jo geet hai, junjuna lejiye, phir dekhiye...

Yadon mein jiski kiseeka naam hai,
Sapnon ke jaise uski hi hashaan hai,
Koi to ho jise apna dil dejiye, phir dekhiye...

Khwaab buniye zaraa, geet suniye zaraa, phool chuniye zaraa- phir dekhiye...”

I am beginning to realize that I have always liked the alternative, the “other”- I do not like “the best”, but the one close to it; one that goes almost unrecognized, ignored- but the one that is so perilously close to the peak that it reminds me of me...”Little black dress”, they call it- I will always buy brown. I have wanted Nadal to beat Federer for years; and now that he has won, I want Djokovik to beat them both! I have always supported the “underdog”; have always been and hated having been “second best”- it is a very difficult place to be- almost consumes you from within. Reminds me of Gollum. Oh, NO! :)



Why are the only the beginnings good? Why is the only constant, change? Why are there so many questions and no answers to them? Why does no Indian answer a question directly? Why do we ask questions? Why, Why, WHY? The answer is to USE YOUR HEAD; first look within, scratch- think!



Some people should be banned from using certain words- Naveen shouldn’t be allowed to say ‘misunderstood’ in his entire life, or for that matter, even utter a single word in hindi. Varun shouldn’t be allowed to grin- it’s unfair to that part of the world that is sane- and I’m sure he agrees. Namrata shouldn’t be allowed to talk, even- she gives you the illusion of being in a fish-market- you desperately look around for the source of the noise- and then start believing in God- noone else can fit so much into one woman! I, for one, should stop using and thinking the word “amused”; it has come to be my favourite word- I am always in a constant state of amusement; what I can see, hear or smell is a continuous source of entertainment. Mama calls it “being high on life”- and carefully puts it to make the point- these states come with an expiry date.

What would happen if one put a reporter, a lawyer, an architect, an advertising executive and an mba student in one dorm? Hehe...I will soon be finding out. :)


'Why shouldn't globalisation speak with an Indian accent?' Some people put words together so beautifully...



The most important character of a city should be the dreams it can show you, the distance it makes you believe you can tread- and the fire it can generate for a goal. This should be the scale of measurement of the 'greatness' of a city; not whether the climate is within the range of human comfort or not- priorities need to be shuffled...I wonder how important a role the architecture of the city can play.


There is a lot of hype surrounding a sunset and a beach- it is an event; something poems are written about- I don't know what the fuss is all about. Going northward on a saturday evening, I spent an hour at the door of a local train, looking at the passing faces of those in other trains- with each train that moved alongside ours, the people seemed to glow; the colour began to deepen- from gold to orange, and from red to brown- finally reducing to a silhouette in the colour of the night. Standing at the edge with the wind in my face, I could not see the sun setting, but it was the finest sunset I have had in the city of the beaches.

Mumbai. I think this one word is enough to make a mark, to evoke a reaction; to say 'I live in mumbai' brings with it a lot of things- crowd, hype, struggle, ambition, no-nonsense, fast, busy, smart, and vast. My first week in mumbai has been overwhelming; the city leaves you more in awe than frustration- it gives me a high!

Maharashtra presents a marvellous range of greens during the rainy season; the black soil and the equally dark tree-barks sit in perfect contrast to them- wonder how it would look if I smeared the painting with a long stroke of red?

There are so many natural filters in any given city- and each present a very different shade of the city. For example, you can easily trust anyone on the road at 6 30 am on a weekday- only those seriously interested in sport, health or academics will be on the road then- and they're not thieves. If you want to be kidnapped, walk on the same road at 2am. If you want to ask for directions, ask the ones who look like they don't have the time to answer- not the ones who could give you an hour. You can talk to anybody in the park at 7am on a sunday- but shut up in the same park at 9pm; better still, DON'T go there. It's really funny, how the same place provides us with such a range- and how the city actually asks for its inhabitants to be inconsistent! Life, they say, is multilayered.

On my fifteen minute walk to work, I pass a porsche showroom and a satya paul studio. Cool, eh? :)

I like observing people, and most of all when a fight breaks out in a group- when everybody is apparently arguing and nobody can make out who is saying what. It is really not that way. It is an amusing thing to study- it gives invaluable insights into the personalities of people involved. In any given group, there are always those who are, with great conviction, putting forth their points of view; but constitute only half of the group. There are others- those who choose to ignore the noise; those who show frustration at the madness; those who can switch off and find something else interesting to do; those who wish they had never come; those who find it all very funny; those who simply walk out; and finally those, who like me, very quietly, observe the scene. What is marvellous, I think, is the fact that every group comprises ALL; and it is this very 'range' that makes life exciting.



I feel like making gifts again; I feel like chattering continuously like I used to- I feel like myself after a long time- I don't know what has changed or how it has changed, but I am sure it has a lot to do with Namrata. The mad woman, she has shocked me with her personality! God help those she is heading towards! :)



I am really bad at writing letters; they demand too much of continuous attention from my volatile brain- I'm not very good with the words either. If I flop as an architect, I won't be able to make it as a second-rate clerk also! Maybe I should try the delivery part of the letters- post office zindabad! hehe...



" जाने ना कहाँ वोह दुनिया है , जाने ना वोह है भी या नहीं - जहाँ मेरी जिंदगी मुझसे इतनी खफा नहीं । "

I am blissfully weird, and I like it. I do mad, unconventional things, things that seem silly and abnormal for my age and 'image'... I hold the handrail up along a staircase not for support, but to feel the material; I like to go to the temples- not to pray, but to hear the silence; I observe and notice the hidden things, while the most visible ones simply miss my eye...I do not remember the type and history of trees even though I am obsessed with greenery, but I know what a tree does to a space and how to use it; I do not remember people by names but by their unique skills- it is a very different way of life, mine- almost as though I do not speak the same language as everyone else. Am I illiterate, then?

I am currently 'unemployed'. It's a wonderful feeling, this- to have secured a killer job, and still have some time to do organised time-pass. I am both scared and elated, nervous and relieved- at the same time! I want to do EVERYTHING in this time; feels like it is indeed the end of this world- and every passing hour, I am desperately trying to fit in another thing into the damn list!

One thing I am DYING to understand is the meaning of ‘love’. The whole world seems to be obsessed with it. It seems to be the very basis of the existence of all mankind; it is one thing everyone experiences, and everyone craves for. And the love you have for your life-partner is the most hyped. Or maybe not. How does one ‘fall’ in love? What is the process? And what does ‘Pyaar kiya nahin jaata, bas ho jaata hai’ mean? Lot of questions. No answers yet.

" Life in mumbai is fast, glamorous, stinky n crowded; it's a great city but a terrible place. "
Let's find out, shall we? :)

Sanjay Mohe makes me want to believe, he makes me want to have faith- in this time of Hafeez Contractor and IT parks. “You have to stand your ground – stand up for what you believe- right from day one.” It is not only now that he can ‘afford’ to refuse vaastu-crazy clients; he has been doing it right from the start. “Once you compromise, it becomes a process of running behind the money,” he says- “Do good work, and then you can choose to have all the money- you will command.”

“Utterly brilliant”. LOVE the adjective! :)

This seems like a fantastic time frame of my life; these are the years that will be most uncertain, curious, and ‘beautiful’. All bollywood songs seem to be written for this age; all definitions seem to reverse- things that we have been asked to stay away from will be expected of us- it is a special kind of transition, I think. I will begin to experience new things; will look at things differently- it is amusing, how ‘coming of age’ changes even the basic way one looks at life. It just makes me realize that I have been living in some kind of a bubble; and am sure when I look back 25 years later, will still be thinking the same! Nice place to be, this.

It is a waste of brilliant weather, this. Staying at home in horror of the bomb blasts. Just when you think its time to remove the jackets from the cupboard, you’re grounded. God, I could NOT be more self-centered!

It’s a very bad idea to watch a movie in Bangalore if you have a cold. That too, without a jacket. Sniff.

“The architecture of Geoffrey Bawa is about the poetry of space. It is about raising one’s spirits to celebrate life. This is realised with a minimum of fuss and no theorizing. It is an absolute experience which is direct and pleasurable. It is about restraint, understatement and quietness...When you sit in one of Bawa’s verandahs, it is always what you see that counts, and rarely the building itself. This idea of ‘formlessness’ is a very curious thing because the whole of western architectural discourse has been about form making.”

It’s a pity to see a person speak his heart out towards someone else’s concern- and not be understood. It’s unfair, really- appalling, almost.

S.U.P.W. Some Useful Period Wasted. Synonymous to Laxmi madam’s class back in school. I think we literally pulled a leg off her body and presented it to her as a 'favorite teacher' award. She seemed quite thrilled by it. She made the most controversial of statements- “There are floods in Assam because the tides (-oh my goodness-) are running backwards”!! The winner, though, is her ‘India map’. You could NOT get her to stop drawing an oddly-shaped elephant on the black board in the form of our own bharat. Ask her why the earth rotates, and she’ll start drawing the India map!

How important was architecture in ‘The Matrix’? Why was the room Neo and Trinity took the guns from, all white? Why was it floorless, windowless, wall-less and roof-less? What is that kind of architecture trying to evoke? If you wanted to sketch that room, how would you? There are no planes, no light and thus no shadow; no furniture, flooring, or roof; no tree, grass or sky. And yet, it is a space. It evokes emotion; it occupies virtual space- it exists in the mind, but it exists. How would you draw it?



It was a moment; and as a moment I shall remember it- it is amusing how we recall times we live in real-time as snap shots; photographs, almost. That photo is surreal, as are all we tend to remember- light flooding in from behind her, and bringing along with it a huge gust of wind- I will remember it as a muted detail- I do not recall what we were giggling about; only that we were giggling...“We always romanticize the past and dramatize the future, but never express the present”, Sanjay Mohe told me- it is a mighty detail that goes unnoticed...Every single moment, every photograph, every conversation in Mindspace has been precious to me- it was the pre-decided romanticism of the past that the future is going to be.



It is not everyday that one gets to watch Sanjay Mohe sketching- and when I did, I wrote this-
I see the big, thick lines covering the site; fast and accurate in thought, they look down into the site...Once the lines rest, the pondering begins- there are views, details and scribbles all in company of the big lines- it is almost as if the small ones scatter around the source- the sheet is rich, heavy, and precious. And this is only the beginning.



I have an abnormally large nose. I think it could easily pass off as a batata-wada. Also, the centreline of my nose and that of my face do not coincide- much like the difference between the magnetic and rotating axes of the earth- manufacturing defects, they are. :)

It was raining most of last night - it was god's way of keeping the night awake , I think - it was keeping me company . . .


I've been travelling like mad - five different cities over three trips in three weeks - not bad , eh ? I wonder how long I can be floating around like this - sooner or later I am going to have to 'settle down'. Aarrghh - I don't think I even like the sound of that !


' You can know too much , but you might not know enough. '


Mehendi is a funny thing ; I cannot stop being amused by how its contact with a surface leaves behind such a beautifully coloured mark - something that cannot be transferred , modified or replicated - shows up to brighten up the entire palm , and then quietly vanishes into oblivion . . .


I simply love Varun ; he has recently shocked me with his emotional growth - I think Pratibha has done him a world of good . . . He's the only one I can say has 'lasted the years' - everyone else has faded - slowly , but steadily . . . Varun is still as wonderfully weird as he has always been - I don't think it can be taken out of him - I cannot imagine him without the silly jokes , mad faces , bizarre body language or the sunky reactions - but what is important is that he's so much more than that now; deeper , I would say - noone can simply write him off anymore - it has been wonderful to watch him as the years have passed - hope to continue for many more !

'What you are is so loud that I cannot hear what you're saying . . . '


It is amusing how we cannot see the wind ; only what it does to things we can see . . . It is wonderful, really- different things respond differently to the same source- it is the rich detailing in nature that makes for such wonderful layering ; and look at us , trying to unify it all !


Every time there is a question about myself that I cannot get around , I look into my blog ; it gives me hints , directions . . . There are things in there I never knew - things that I didn't intend to pen down but did involuntarily ; every time I read it I find something new , something I didn't know about myself - just like every building I see - what we actually see of the things visible to us varies with time . . . It's a part of the 'keep-learning-all-your-life' theory - endless , immeasurable ,and precious . . .


Every time I visit a new city , I take a video along the streets while I travel within the city - I think it's an excellent way of capturing the various sounds , colours , people , language , infrastructure , and fundamental landscape of the city - all in one shot . . . Believe me , they can be shockingly different from one another - I'm documenting the world in a small way - Someday I'm going to sell it for a killer price ! He he . . .