house part3

upper floor - terraces/screens

living room - terraces

home part 2

my room

upstair corridor

dadis room

poojaroom
more still to come....but cant take anymore photos......

home - part 1

My home .... after lot of struggling and compromises and fights and arguements its finally over..almost!!! my first project and i love it! .... any coments are welcome ...and sid n parch waiting for u guys to come and see it...

dining taken from the terrace

IF

i cant but stop reading this.... it makes me feel so good!

IF
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling

Home Sweet Home

sofa hall

dining area

mezzanine

mezzanine

dining

its crazy arguing with parents.....the end has almost come-- we will be shifting back home.

some images of my ( and my parents-who are not architects) first project...Home under construction...everything from my old house is reused (which explains the triagular windows)...

in the rains

Dahl- the violent author?

 google celebrates roald dahl's birthday -www.google.com i was reading some of his story summaries and frankly, 
i was shocked. i mean the guy who wrote matilda and james and the ...
 
also wrote-
" Finally his turn is called, and he is led to the "schackling area" where the pigs are grabbed, looped about the ankle with a chain, and then dragged up through a hole in the roof. While he is watching, one of the workers slips a chain around Lexington's ankle and before he knows what is happening he is being dragged along the path as well. "Help!" he cries. "There's been a frightful mistake!" But no one stops the engine, and he's carried along to the sticker, who slices open the boy's jugular vein with a knife" -review of  short stories by roald dahl - 'PIG'

and ..

"but when bringing a leg of lamb to the kitchen for the evening meal, she encounters her husband. In a fit of rage she kills him with a blow to the head from the leg of lamb. Thinking quickly, she goes to the local store to create an alibi for herself, and when she returns home, calls the police. They come quickly, and after verifying her alibi, they begin the search for the murder weapon, unaware that it is cooking right in front of them. After a fruitless hunt for the weapon, Mary Malone offers the officers the now cooked lamb. As they discuss the location of the weapon, Mary begins to giggle.." - lamb to the slaughter
all his adult fiction is the same..crude violence

rethinking his childrens fiction , they too had a violent humour..maneating giants, children almost dying in a choclate factory etc...

he remains to be one of my favorite authors

cruise to Alaska atlast!

i remember the excitement overflow and goosebumps....finally the high point of the trip. i was really shocked to see the ship, it was enormously large-like a floating city. it had 750 crew for around 2500 passengers. it was grand from inside, you could call it baroque- overly decorated. we were assigned our staterooms which were quite tiny according to american standards and quite large according to indian. ours had a window and a great view but who cared? we all rushed outside to the deck on the 12th floor...

12th floor through out the cruise remained our meeting place, if someone was lost - they were found there. it had the market place- which was a buffet eating place- huge, the game room, card room, library, spa n gym, open deck- pool and water slides, the theatre, the auditorium(600 seater with balcony- rococco style) and essentially the spinnaker lounge. the ship had a spectacular lobby on the 7th floor, triple heighted with a lounge and bars, discs and restaurants- i could go on and on about the ship but thats all for now.

exploring and knowing the ship took us probably first half of the trip...it was really exciting.

all these lounges and restaurants and other areas overlooked everchanging outside. the feeling was stange, you are in the same place with a different outside.

i can say one thing for sure the cruise was totally worth the money, and if u eat every living thing on earth - you must go for it. the feed u as if there is no tomorrow, and the charge is all inclusive so no worries. make sure u take a free style cruise, who wants to stick to schedule on a holiday?

Seattle

our cruise to alaska started from seattle. we had a day and half to explore the city. we walked for really long in really cold weather and bythe time we reached somewhere - the city was shut. dissapointing. so on the first day seattle seemed to be a dull city with grey weather - turn off. even in big cities everything shuts very early in US.. its strange by 9 pm absolutely everything is shut...and there is daylight till then so you dont even feel hungry enough for dinner..


we walked past Gehrys building and the seattle needle(strange monument from outer space). gehry i must say has done a good job with the exterior..flashy and ostentatious but interesting. his usual silver material with which he clads his building was replaced in some places by pink n yellow flashy materials which gave the building a weird look - as if it was some craft model done by some kid. but again it was 430 PM and it was shut.

the next day i almost forced my brother to take me to gehry's building...which by the way is called - The experience music project(EMP). we went inside to find out that it was a dull and boring museum absolutely opposite to starnge exterior. there was no experience of the building in most parts and the interior might as well have been put anywhere. the dynamic outside and boring inside...beauty is only skin deep? probably the best part of the building was that the sky rail runs right through the building..we were not allowed to take any pictures inside, but trust me it wasnt even worth it..

besides the EMP there was pikes market, which was almost exactly like our juhu fish market. only difference was it was it was tourist friendly..it had restaurants n cafes and signs.
Downtown seattle was just okay. the only thing was that it was used up well. seattle is a major port - it reminded me of mumbai ka dead east coast..and to think the east coast of mumbai can be like that?

The Experience Music Project- Frank Gehry

U.Va

roman pantheon

Rotunda - Uva

University of Virginia seemed like a small town by itself. the buildings are short and spread out, seperated by vast endless greens- almost like a garden city. walking from one building to another seems to be enough excersise. it was designed by thomas jefferson, who was inspired by the roman architecture. In his words the experience of the college should be like a 'academic village'. the roman influence could be seen in a few buildings like -the Rotunda- library building at the head of the garden. the buildings were all inset with a colonaded pathway all around. over all it was a pleasant place straight out of history, with changed use.

Uva- pics