station point : sunderbans, andheri west
altitude : approx. 15 floors
foreground : laxmi industrial estate, 4 bungalows, dn nagar
background : juhu -versova, wadala, worli

early monsoon - evening walk past the poisar river just before chikoowadi.

drawn blank

i picked up my pencil, and started to draw.
draw what i think would be the future.
the city, the trees, people.
i drew, what i thought was a picture,
just the picture i had in my mind.
satisfied i put my pencil down,
stood up and stretched my arms.
unpinned from the board, my hand held a sheet of paper,
a paper with that picture.
i raised it up for my eyes too see,
a blank sheet.

the wadhwa group is re-developing the club aquaria plot in borivali. the project 'aquaria grande' is one which is fascinating me these days. this complete residential project takes the form of two clover shaped towers (in plan) that rise above the low rise sprawl of older borivali to offer spectacular views of the hills and forest in the east and the coast and the mangroves in the west. designed by a firm from Singapore, the structure is p.s.p.t. with each of the three 'fingers' taking one apartment with four or five massive columns which are concealed well within the layout. this! offers a near 360 degree view of the city with a ribbon facade and a continuous balcony that wraps around the apartment. on a clear day, i am pretty sure one could see all the way up to worli.

i like!

is this the closest to the perfect bombay home?

every project comes with it's own set of opportunities/thrills and leanings. while working at NGMA, Mumbai to put up Project Cinema City, rohan and i jumped at the idea of going on top of the dome, call it cheap thrills that architects get by climbing onto buildings, but, the view is to die for. the road below cannot be seen even as you rise above the foliage of the old rain trees.

after all these years of a particular kind of struggle, as a family and as individuals, i have come to realise that attachment to anything is futile.

today, i stand at that moment in time that will only define my years of existence yet to come.
a moment that has arrived after a long struggle of nearly 24 years.
it is only fair that i make the most of it at the expense of whatever that it might take from me.
this is my second chance, the only one to make it.

i belong here, and this city belongs to me.

sigh!
memory be my biggest enemy.

trees

i like the new e-meters that occupy the all familiar left hand side of our yellow-black auto-rickshawas. they are completely new, yet all too familiar as the 'flag' which reads for hire is retained and performs its original roll.

i will miss the 'tring-trring' sound though.