Renaissance Idiot's ramblings

Gregory Samsa wakes up to see himself turned into an insect. I llustration by Richard Johnson. It's my routine: I go to sleep, prepared to repeat the same old daily routine or work. But, when I open my eyes, I cannot seem to get up. As I look down, my arms and legs are turned into a bug’s. Even my body has become hard and resembles that of a beetle/centipede. Now, what do I freak on about first? My body that doesn't look human anymore? The fact that my body hurts and cannot move? Or my work and the morning train that I have surely missed? Gregory worries about the latter and the consequences that will follow if he misses this day or even dares to show up late. It takes a unique level of conditioning where one discards their own wellbeing for work. Written in 1912, I am not sure if Kafka’s time had corporate toxic work culture but he was able to accurately predict and satirise a way of living which would be the norm 100 years later.  Myself, my peers and even my seniors have emb...

  Poster for the Mumbai Urban Art Festival 2022-23 by St+art Foundation retrieved from paytminsider.com Recently I had the fortune to visit the Mumbai Urban Art Festival 2022-23. This was the second year of the festival being hosted in Sassoon Docks, Mumbai. Sassoon Docks is a fishing port for the koli fishing community, which also includes a bustling fish market, fish related industries and car garages on the site. The art festival is beautifully integrated in the negative spaces of the site, existing in the voids of the daily. The art installations took visual-based forms, where the clear bias for Instagram bloggers was apparent. The installations retained their social message along with their visual flair. The festival in its nature is open-to-all. However, what was common to see an overarching majority of teen to young adult audience who were extremely eager to take a photograph for their social media platforms and covering as much ground as possible in the shortest amount of t...

 Gun House as built in 1960, copyright Charles Correa Associates, courtesy of Charles Correa Foundation * After wrapping up my fellowship at the Charles Correa Foundation in Panaji, Goa, I needed a time-off to think about what I was going to do next. After listening to about a hundred different versions of my future from everyone around me, and disagreeing with all of them, I returned back home only to quickly elope to Gujarat for a well-earned time off. Amongst the places I got to visit & the people I got to spend time with, one experience took centre stage for me. Working on the Correa Archive, I had developed a good understanding of Correa’s work. One such was the Gun House, and knowing I will be so close to it on this trip; I had to make it a must to go and see it. The idea of the Gun House, from its name, shape, to the stories of its current fate brought tremendous interest to my mind. It is rare to see a work of a significant architect that goes through such massive deg...

(Above) Le Corbusier looking towards the High Court Building’s main façade. This is continuing the review of essays by Charles Correa in his book, A Place in the Shade.  To claim that Correa is a free thinker would be an understatement. The man can be both, a harsh critic and a benevolent supporter and for the case of Le Corbusier here, he is both Through Chandigarh's Capital Complex, Correa strips Corbusier of every layer showing every little sentiment the man shared in designing buildings and what he seemingly ignored in his quest. Corbusier had the task of making this newly independent country's newest city, all the while establishing the language of architecture for the coming future.  Correa introduces himself to the reader before the critique and praise of Le Corbusier, in a way that gives credibility to the man. From the ideals of climate, culture, material, design and more. Charles Correa is no preacher, but the embodiment of a practitioner with a rich set ...

As I sat down with a copy of the Place in the Shade and read the introduction text by Correa, it prepared for the journey through the thoughts of the Greatest Architect of India. Correa's words stand as strong as time itself as I would realise while reading this book. Knowing full well that I'll have to read this at different points of my life; and that with every read, Correa would tell me something new every time through those same string of words. Correa starts off the book with a superhero origin like story of the phenomena that unknowingly shaped him into the designer at the world knows him now as. Correa talks about the skill of imagination as a child customizing train tracks into complex layouts for his amusement and softly transitions to the topic of architectural design while traversing the topics of film, drama, Chinese gardens and interior design here we see Charles Correa, someone who has practiced and mastered the use of the Ritualistic Pathway talk abo...

  Imagine, opening up your future newspaper, or before your youtube video starts, you see an advertisement, trying to sell you a prestigious ticket to become a member of a particular religion. "With the idea of Recycle and Reuse becoming popular, allow your soul to be a part of it by accepting Hinduism!!" Or on the contrary think of your favourite influencer/actor telling you how great Christianity is because you can wear a beautiful white gown and get married in a church, only at the price of accepting Christ as your lord and saviour.  All this sounds extremely ridiculous, far-fetched and maybe even insulting. Religions, are considered as pious and untouched guides to our morality and are famous for teaching its followers to be loyal to it. These being defined through centuries of human life on earth and also above it to answer what comes before and after it all. However, for an off chance, can they be commoditized ? and in turn be sold to you? For their inherent benefits?...

  “I heard you paint houses, Frank?” “Yes sir I do, and I do my own carpentry too.” -         The Irishman (2019) The tale of time and power, contract serial killer, mobster and a friend; Frank Sheeran’s rise and absolute demise are all visualised and narrated through the old man himself; engaging in the revelling story of friendship, loyalty and protection. Starting from its many metaphors serving as foreshadowing of the approaching end, return back to haunt him. The POWs digging their graves, on the face of death. The rotting smell of the fish being a smug nod to “something fishy” and the now tainted morality of Frank.  A story where Scorsese chooses to showcase deaths being cold, quick and like clockwork, commenting on the detached psyche and “Its time” acceptance of Frank, completely devoid of honour and emotion. Only ignored for Jimmy Hoffa, his friend and Sally Bugs, a bad hit. The editing choice to introduce side characters with ...

 Collage by Utsav Chaudhury B efore the pandemic entered India, I was busy completing the remainder of my 90 day internship in Goa; with dreams of leaving work and exploring Goa for the month of May. Alas to my surprise, the lockdown came into effect and along with it the absolutely confusing months of March and April where everyday was going into a forest, hunting and gathering for the week’s supply of vegetables, spices, Maggi and others. It was a situation like no other and to my good fortune I had moved into a new apartment with 3 new roommates, which meant we could divide in groups of two and distribute the shopping list amongst each other. Alternate days of coming back from the ‘hunt’ and laying all our food down on the balcony floor for it to sanitise under the sun rays while we tallied up and divided the expenses amongst ourselves was our new normal. Although it is no doubt an extremely scary and panicking situation, where the basic necessity of everyday food wasn't readily...