The next day, 20th december , I woke up from a rather equivocal dream, one i could not control or fathom the sequence of events. The only memory I have is that of the apocalypse , and me being away from my home town; Doing what? Well , a site study! Perhaps, the end comes with architecture, What peccadilloes have I committed, I thought;
That was quickly interrupted by the flight and the euphony of the pigeons outside of the tiny window. Pigeons, can probably be given the title, 'mascot of Shahjahanabad'.These birds are found almost everywhere in that precinct, rooftops, cables, roads; they occupy the city, in almost the same density as the humans; the only difference between us and them ; we are quite intractable.
Moving on ;
An early breakfast set me off, on yet another expedition; I arrived following the same route on the metro to the station at Chandni Chowk. Now the Delhi metro station has ample signage to help navigate to the different exits , but being a fairly new user, I got lost , and ended up coming out of a tunnel that led me to a ground, an open field where all you can see are a bunch of parked buses. At around 8 am, the sun refuses to make its way out on a winter morning , and the cold chill still persists;
This was when I decided to follow my mapping instincts, and took the widest road, i saw, passing by people curled up in blankets, with their children , you cannot help but sympathize. Children wake up , seeing a visitor , and are quick to beg, that being a disadvantage of looking like 'you dont belong'. To camouflage yourself is probably the only way to be successful in such conditions, yet another lesson learnt, that point went on to be further emphasized on my study of Jama Masjid and its precinct, where the community is extremely insular.
A few winding turns, and yes I ended up lost, after all those quick sketches and studies, I still lost my way, scrambling onto a wide footpath, I walked , for about a kilometer, carefully observing the different behaviours of the myriad of society, the vehicular movements, penning down notes into my sketch books, for later comparative analysis. Where could my site be? I just found an edge!An urban condition, the point where the British had erected their railway station, the first one in Delhi, I finally had some sort of an idea, as to where I was; but for a few minutes ,quite a few gazes scare you , others welcome you , but as sanguine as Old Delhi's society may be , there is yet another face which is malicious, as the newspaper articles and videos suggest. That singular fact makes your heartrate increase. What calmed me down was the timely conversation with a policeman;
The policeman : "Beta , sambhaal ke jaana, ache khaase dikhte ho aap, yahaan pe sab kuch hota hain, agar ek bar imsein pakda gaya na, phir samajh lo zindagi chala gaya" .( Son, be careful , you look new and fine, if you get trapped, you can forget about your life)
Me: Shukriya,saab( Thank you, sir)
The conversation went on for a while , and I set out, this time in the right direction, to Chandni Chowk. My first look at the street , and tortuous thoughts rushed into my mind , a narrow alley leading to the street, provided for further observation;
A few kids playing cricket, in a small yard behind an old tattered building, his parents cuddled up, trying to recover from the enervation caused by the shivers from the harsh winter night.A few conversations across the grills to the kids enlivened my spirits. Sport can almost instantly make you forget the harshest of conditions. They spoke to me, across the grill in the park for about 20 minutes, they poked their face, gripping the rails tightly, balancing themselves on the pavement stone; A sense of excitement always grips them, the moment you start a conversation, they tell you about their school , their lives, a daily routine and extensively about their game!Whilst I patiently listened , I learnt, about the character of the city , partly , ofcourse, they drew my first urban diagram, literally , their routes could be traced, a pedestrian map, of most families belonging to their particular clan clearly traced! After watching two more of their mini-matches, I left, and continued down to hit , "The Town hall", another British imposition onto the once fabulous street of Chandni Chowk. The street , was initially almost devoid of traffic, sparing the sounds of few rickshaws, and goods vehicles. A short conversation with a shopkeeper revealed yet another layer of activities, this time street and north-old-delhi specific, he revealed the lighter part, the economy and exact referential dates of certain buildings on the street.
The old buildings facing desolation, some 150 years old, the contemporary structures inserted provided for a vivid elevation. The street has almost all possible banks, clothing shops , chappals , food, etc. The description of his , just let me place the activities in relation to history, and the analysis I had already done. Using the studies as a template , helped me aptly structure the stories , and logically separate them into comprehensible diagrams, in my sketchbook.
The entire day went by , observing the gradually increasing traffic, pedestrian density, tourists, goods influx, and much more, and ofcourse eyes looking into your book with veneration( that is a lovely feeling).!
The whole sequence went on till the afternoon, when I waked into McDonalds, the ubiquitous fast food chain.
As I walked out after quick bite , the number of people and vehicles seemed to have increased manifold .Activities in the gurudwara, the temples etc, all happening simultaneously and in perfect sync;
What we quickly realise with just a few strolls around the great precinct, is that no day is going to pass by without mystery; of fascinating co-existence.
The anticlimax here, is the part where I had to take a right and scoot back on the Delhi metro , back to Connaught place, where i met my senior , who ,taught me the art of bargaining, a dingy, claustrophobic and congested market, running underneath the circular center of Rajiv Chowk. The deal here;
A jacket who's initial quoted price was 3500/- came down to a meagre amount of 500/- ; and that my readers, is precisely how Delhi works!
That was quickly interrupted by the flight and the euphony of the pigeons outside of the tiny window. Pigeons, can probably be given the title, 'mascot of Shahjahanabad'.These birds are found almost everywhere in that precinct, rooftops, cables, roads; they occupy the city, in almost the same density as the humans; the only difference between us and them ; we are quite intractable.
 |
| THATS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! The legacy of the pigeons Picture taken by Shankar Roshan Valiathan;20th December, 2012 |
Moving on ;
An early breakfast set me off, on yet another expedition; I arrived following the same route on the metro to the station at Chandni Chowk. Now the Delhi metro station has ample signage to help navigate to the different exits , but being a fairly new user, I got lost , and ended up coming out of a tunnel that led me to a ground, an open field where all you can see are a bunch of parked buses. At around 8 am, the sun refuses to make its way out on a winter morning , and the cold chill still persists;
This was when I decided to follow my mapping instincts, and took the widest road, i saw, passing by people curled up in blankets, with their children , you cannot help but sympathize. Children wake up , seeing a visitor , and are quick to beg, that being a disadvantage of looking like 'you dont belong'. To camouflage yourself is probably the only way to be successful in such conditions, yet another lesson learnt, that point went on to be further emphasized on my study of Jama Masjid and its precinct, where the community is extremely insular.
A few winding turns, and yes I ended up lost, after all those quick sketches and studies, I still lost my way, scrambling onto a wide footpath, I walked , for about a kilometer, carefully observing the different behaviours of the myriad of society, the vehicular movements, penning down notes into my sketch books, for later comparative analysis. Where could my site be? I just found an edge!An urban condition, the point where the British had erected their railway station, the first one in Delhi, I finally had some sort of an idea, as to where I was; but for a few minutes ,quite a few gazes scare you , others welcome you , but as sanguine as Old Delhi's society may be , there is yet another face which is malicious, as the newspaper articles and videos suggest. That singular fact makes your heartrate increase. What calmed me down was the timely conversation with a policeman;
The policeman : "Beta , sambhaal ke jaana, ache khaase dikhte ho aap, yahaan pe sab kuch hota hain, agar ek bar imsein pakda gaya na, phir samajh lo zindagi chala gaya" .( Son, be careful , you look new and fine, if you get trapped, you can forget about your life)
Me: Shukriya,saab( Thank you, sir)
The conversation went on for a while , and I set out, this time in the right direction, to Chandni Chowk. My first look at the street , and tortuous thoughts rushed into my mind , a narrow alley leading to the street, provided for further observation;
A few kids playing cricket, in a small yard behind an old tattered building, his parents cuddled up, trying to recover from the enervation caused by the shivers from the harsh winter night.A few conversations across the grills to the kids enlivened my spirits. Sport can almost instantly make you forget the harshest of conditions. They spoke to me, across the grill in the park for about 20 minutes, they poked their face, gripping the rails tightly, balancing themselves on the pavement stone; A sense of excitement always grips them, the moment you start a conversation, they tell you about their school , their lives, a daily routine and extensively about their game!Whilst I patiently listened , I learnt, about the character of the city , partly , ofcourse, they drew my first urban diagram, literally , their routes could be traced, a pedestrian map, of most families belonging to their particular clan clearly traced! After watching two more of their mini-matches, I left, and continued down to hit , "The Town hall", another British imposition onto the once fabulous street of Chandni Chowk. The street , was initially almost devoid of traffic, sparing the sounds of few rickshaws, and goods vehicles. A short conversation with a shopkeeper revealed yet another layer of activities, this time street and north-old-delhi specific, he revealed the lighter part, the economy and exact referential dates of certain buildings on the street.
The old buildings facing desolation, some 150 years old, the contemporary structures inserted provided for a vivid elevation. The street has almost all possible banks, clothing shops , chappals , food, etc. The description of his , just let me place the activities in relation to history, and the analysis I had already done. Using the studies as a template , helped me aptly structure the stories , and logically separate them into comprehensible diagrams, in my sketchbook.
The entire day went by , observing the gradually increasing traffic, pedestrian density, tourists, goods influx, and much more, and ofcourse eyes looking into your book with veneration( that is a lovely feeling).!
The whole sequence went on till the afternoon, when I waked into McDonalds, the ubiquitous fast food chain.
As I walked out after quick bite , the number of people and vehicles seemed to have increased manifold .Activities in the gurudwara, the temples etc, all happening simultaneously and in perfect sync;
What we quickly realise with just a few strolls around the great precinct, is that no day is going to pass by without mystery; of fascinating co-existence.
A quirk; Amidst thousands of people , a large crowd , I have the unusual ability to turn off , remain calm , and set my mind on the task at hand;
One quality I believe every Urban designer/ Architect should possess , is this very skill , which determine the
success rates of a good urban designer/ planner.
Solitude in Multitude , and the ability to seamlessly integrate yourself with the conditions at site.. Just like architects design keeping site specific conditions, and contexts in mind, a successful surveyor , is impeccable in disguising himself to perfectly merge , with the cultural fabric.
This helped me throughout the analysis during the day. The next view was one that I , personally can never forget.As cliche as it might sound , the Red Fort plaza and the gate, in magnificent sandstone, standing in all its grandeur , at the end of Chandni chowk.The anticlimax here, is the part where I had to take a right and scoot back on the Delhi metro , back to Connaught place, where i met my senior , who ,taught me the art of bargaining, a dingy, claustrophobic and congested market, running underneath the circular center of Rajiv Chowk. The deal here;
A jacket who's initial quoted price was 3500/- came down to a meagre amount of 500/- ; and that my readers, is precisely how Delhi works!
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