Views and Perspectives

Just sharing a drawing I did an year or two back, and a few words that explain the idea behind the drawing.. She ran her eyes across her new chamber, taking in its magnificence. The layers of fabric seemed as heavy as her heart.  Clutching her unfamiliarly heavy robes, she looked at herself in the mirror one last time, gathering up courage to face the crowd. Determined, she turned away and lifted her hands to the fine layer of cloth that separated the comfort of her chamber from the outside world. The fabric felt soft between her fingers. Slowly parting the curtains, she took her first step outside. Head held high, she smiled at the people. They cried, “All hail our newly crowned Queen!!”

You might wonder why I'm writing so much about homeless kids nowadays. Well... It's because some stupid &£#%+@%/s need to get all that shit out of their heads and fill them with more positive thoughts!! Yes, I am frustrated!! I am annoyed and baffled at how people can be so RIDICULOUS!! And mean!! I'm just hoping that this post knocks some sense into their heads!! I've always wanted to adopt. I see no reason to bring an extra person into this already over populated world while so many kids live without food or water... Or worse... Without a family!! So one day, I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, and i come across a post saying that we should popularise the idea that adoption could be one's first choice and not necessarily just an alternative for childless couples. That quote just summarised everything about this topic that I wanted to shout out to the world... And obviously, naturally, I shared it!! Then came those comments... Some were okay, ...

Throughout my final years at college, I had done various levels of study on kids and their relation to spaces. I also had a few friends in my class with similar dedication. We have always got positive feedback as to how our passion towards the topic is reflected in our study. When we had to choose a Thesis topic, though we had diverse options in our mind, deep down, I think, we always knew that we would design for children. That is how I ended up doing an ‘Integrated school’ and one of my friends ended up doing a ‘Centre for street children’. This was an opportunity for us to learn more about child growth and psychology. Even as I was deeply involved in my study and the design it would lead to, my friend’s topic fascinated me. I remember asking her for briefs of everything she had read, heard or observed. I remember her quoting the main tagline of her project, “You can take the child out of the street, but never the street out of the child”. I remember eagerly listening to her as she...

It's funny how some people can affect you with their negative energy, however unimportant they might be to you. I am the kind of person who not just likes to remain happy at all times, but also succeeds in doing so most of the time. I am known to be a very happy person and I too believe so. I always keep negative energy at bay and avoid negative personalities. But sometimes, it is not so easy. Some people are such that they cannot be kicked out of your life. Today, being the first day of the year, was meant to be kept happy and positive. That is what we all wish for, for we believe that a good beginning will ensure a good year. For the same reason, I decided to bring a smile to a very special person today. I was aware of the possible consequences. I knew I'd have to expose myself to the negative energies I've been avoiding. But what the heck!! I can't let a few unimportant people affect my decisions! I know I can do this! Just like I had imagined, the time I spent th...

My first New Year's Eve alone... If I'm not mistaken, my first New Year's Eve away from home!! It's a totally different feeling. Perhaps I am feeling a bit homesick. I mean, what are celebrations without family?!! Christmas and New Year have been a tradition in my home for some time now, more likely to be celebrated than Onam or Deepawali. I don't know if this is because Christmas and New Year allow a lighter, simpler, easier celebration or because of the spirit of 'Goa'. Back home, the celebration continues without me and my brother. We, away from home, celebrate in our own little ways. Now I wonder... What thoughts are going on in their minds? Just like it is my first new year away from family, it is their first new year without me, in years. They probably miss me like they do everyday. But for me, today is special. Everything about today is special. The boredom, the homesickness, the loneliness, every little feeling is special. It is as relaxing as it...

Weekends are generally supposed to be spent in leisure. The satisfaction that a jobless weekend gives is said to be unmatched. But all happy weekends are not plain and uneventful. Some are made of action and drama, swift movement and sudden brakes, awakenings and falls... often quite literally! This was one such weekend. It all started with a theatre workshop held at the college where I work. The purpose of the workshop was to extract the creative talents of the students and to inspire them to rise beyond their inhibitions. I was looking forward to it for it was something I too needed, to an extent. As the person responsible for organising the workshop, on the one hand I was busy coordinating with the students, while on the other, I was planning shuttling between home and hostel, all on the day before the workshop. The next day, a Saturday, began with my usual chores. After a lot of running about the city for various works, I finally reached on time for the workshop, whi...

Hi everyone..!! Let me introduce myself in the usual boring way! I am Ar. Medha N. Gayathri (no, not Dr. !! It's Ar. !! It means Architect) and I just joined a school of architecture in Kerala, India, as one of the teaching staff.  I have been wanting to write for a while now but, I never found enough time or leisure to actually do so. You will probably hear me lamenting about that a lot, at least in the first few posts! For a start, let me show you the introductory note i wrote for this blog a year back. Hello dear friends!! I have been looking forward to this moment... when I would FINALLY write something that would actually be read! But of course, lack of time is an integral part of the beautiful and exciting field of Architecture. Four years into the course and I am yet to learn time-management. A final year student now, I have begun to think about the wishes of my past and my expectations of the future. My increasingly frequent encounters with the words 'the...