...non periodic oscillations...

We were in a mall on Christmas Eve (I know, right!) because we had to get something. While passing by the otherwise dull inventory on sale everywhere, we chanced upon a tiny kiosk run by Scooboo (https://scooboo.in/) selling stationery and we just had to take a look. You know what happens when you stop at a place selling stationery? You tend to lose money quickly. That is exactly what happened. We saw these lovely gel ink pens in two varieties - one was a black ink with a big bold alphabet on it, and the second was a box of ten with nine colours. The black and white body pens both have black ink. This box is also available as a set of twenty pens. The Initial Pen with black gel ink Anyhow, long story short, pens were bought and money was handed over. I was so enticed by the beautiful, black satin finish fountain pen but held firmly to my resolve of not hoarding any more stationery. It feels good and bad - at the same time. So here is a random piece that happened as part of...

This very interesting piece of research - "The business value of design" ( link ) by Benedict Sheppard, Hugo Sarrazin, Garen Kouyoumjian, and Fabricio Dore, published by McKinsey Design - talks about how design affects a company's bottom line. What I found interesting while reading it was that I have seen a lot of organisations whose core business is design yet they do not understand it entirely. They make the same mistakes or lack the same commitment towards a design led approach to their own business as mentioned in the article. Design organisations get tied down by the lack of design in their own internal processes and business outlook, all the while trying to sell a “design product” to a client, claiming how it will improve their life or business. This is one of the main reasons why most designers live a chaotic and disoriented life, taking pride in their utter inability to streamline even the basics. This attitude is sold to the world as the romantic...

“He/she looks like an educated person. How can he/she do that?” This is a phrase that I hear often, from a variety of people, in response to a variety of stupid or uncivil behaviour that people exhibit in everyday life. It is almost always delivered with an expression of disbelief.  Quite honestly, I have never understood this strange correlation (in people’s mind) between being “educated” and the expectation of better behaviour from other human beings. It seems that for whatever reason, people believe that education is supposed to instil better sense and behaviour. It is supposed to make one a better human being. How? By attending Moral Science classes in school? It is my firm belief that our education system is deeply entrenched in an industrial process of converting human beings into employable zombies who will obey orders. The standard recipe of study hard, good grades, good college, good job, etc. is designed to make us subservient and obedient. The sole aim of the d...

Architectural internships, for most practicing architects I know, are either an unnecessary headache or a means to get some affordable “hands on deck”. For the students looking for an internship though, it is a critical juncture of their lives. Many are of the opinion that internships aren’t required at all while many consider it a rite of passage to professional practice. The way I see it, I believe it is a good thing to give students a flavour of what professional practice feels like, before they step in to the big bad world. Academia is such an insulated, cocooned life that for some students, internship can be a pretty harsh awakening. For some interns, working in an architectural practice helps them to understand what skills are more likely to get them employment quickly. For others still, applying their thoughts in a real world scenario is a thrill. The problem with internship though, is the manner in which it is implemented. The Council of Architecture (CoA) is, of cour...

When I first heard about Big Magic, I was in two minds. However, I must admit that not only did I thoroughly enjoy reading this book, I felt it connected to my own life in so many ways – and that, for me, is a rare feeling. Big Magic is about trying to understand the creative spirit, about welcoming it into one’s life and about understanding that the “gift” of creativity is not for the “select few”. The author takes the reader on a journey through this ever confusing, misunderstood, mistreated world of creativity by starting with the one thing that holds us back – fear. If you’ve ever dreamt of embarking on a creative endeavour and hesitated then you will instantly connect with the book. The book is pragmatic and focuses on understanding the creative instinct and reactions without pretending to paint a rosy picture. Yes, any creative exercise will be hard. Yes, it might be frustrating too, and yet, at the end of it, there is no joy like the joy of creating something beautiful...