THE ART OF BUILDING

The Villa, built by the famous French Architect, Le Corbusier, (1887 - 1965) as a family home for a wealthy Indian cloth merchant in 1951, is off limits to visitors, but I managed, by special arrangement, to view it one day in the middle of the monsoon rains.  These were hardly ideal weather conditions in which to see a structure of this nature, which becomes, in the midst of a downpour, all gushing gutters, slippery steps and soggy roof gardens.

Along with the Villa Savoye (1929 - 1931) in Paris, equally inaccessible, these examples of Le Corbusier's domestic architecture expressed his concern for the house as a 'machine for living in' - the pilotis which raised the structure off the ground, freed this space for other purposes, the lack of external decoration, emphasized form, space and light and the interaction between indoors and outdoors, the flat roof provided space for a roof garden and in the case of the Indian version, provided a water chute down into a pool in the garden !   (Possibly inspired in part by the young son of the family who particularly enjoyed a French story book by Andre Maurois, entitled 'Patapoufs et Fillifers' or Fattypuffs and Thinifers, access to their world beneath the earth being via a stone chute') !

Architects necessarily need wealthy patrons who can afford to pay their fees and it is interesting that Le Corbusier built a number of structures in Ahmedabad, where wealth from cotton production, was centered after Independence.  But he was also responsible in the 1950s, for designing the layout of a new city with civic structures, including the High Court,  Parliament building and a University, in Chandigarh, in the foothills of the Himalayas - Chandigarh being the new capital of Punjab and Haryana, after the partition of India and Pakistan and the loss of the old capital city of Lahore.

Reinforced concrete played a dominant role in all his designs, whether in India or Europe, but he was sensitive to the demands of climate in India and orientation and the brise-soleil, were crucial to his designs, which also included, at Chandigarh, a water feature, to reflect an image of the monumentality of the capitol structures - a salute, perhaps, to the iconic Taj Mahal (1632 - 1653) and its lotus pond in Agra, built by an Afghan architect for the Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan.  What a difference 300 years makes, the earlier structure built entirely of marble, emphasizing in its form and function, the wealth and power of one dynasty and the other in its embracing anthropomorphism and its unadorned use of concrete, the power of democracy.

PAVING THE WAY

Gujarat has some of the best roads of any State in India and they are a cause for pride.  Gujarat being the economic powerhouse of the country, requires an efficient infrastructure.  These roads are not only arteries of transport, but also generate trading opportunities for small scale entrepreneurs, who set up shop as tailors, barbers, cobblers, leather workers and fast food operators, including sugar cane juice providers, who wield their presses, feeding sticks of sugar cane between large wooden mangles, extracting a thin stream of juice which they sell by the glass - so the roads are a hive of activity, shared also by stray dogs and wandering cows and donkeys.

But a new phenomenon has hit this urban scene - heaps of sand, stone and broken bricks were the first harbingers of change afoot and over the last few weeks a honeycomb of small hexagonal concrete 'cobble stones' have been laid, to create the first pavements of Vadodara !   But it seems that this luxury is shunned by the ordinary pedestrian, who still elects to make his way in and out of the vendor stalls and compete for space on the roadside with hooting, jay riding scooters, on the wrong side of the road, adding to the usual confusion.

The new pavements with their ordered hexagonal patterns, remain pristine and silent, onlookers to the chaos of the street alongside !  Their very geometric regularity, alienates them and sets them apart from the crowded casualness of the street, littered with a jumble of life !

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT - MUMBAI

ANY SHADE WILL DO !

The first mangoes are appearing on the vegetable carts....new bird sounds from arriving migrants - the clear call of an early  Cuckoo....but above all the shimmering heat of summer has arrived, with temperatures of around 40 degrees !

As the heat ratchets up and reaches a peak about midday, things go quiet - shops hide behind makeshift shades, swaddling themselves and lights are switched off, as shopkeepers find the coolest place under the counter to sleep and while away the hottest part of the day.  The street empties of people and those few who are out, walk slowly, women hide their heads under their saris.  The dust of a long, dry, year, lies white and hot and fine as talcum powder, in drifts along the roadside.  A street dog has found a bucket, half filled with water and climbed in, immersed up to its shoulders in the soothing wetness, its head poking out the top, eyes dreamy as its panting tongue lolls out of its mouth. Street vendors relinquish the task of selling, to put their feet up and snooze away the day - this is the start of four long hot summer months in Gujarat !

THE 17TH FLOOR

"We've put you on the 17th Floor, Madam," said the Mumbai hotel receptionist, reassuringly..."that's where we put all women traveling on their own" !  This was the first time I'd ever encountered this kind of consideration ....a kind of 21st century purdah ?   In the global gender equality index, India rates 105 out of 135 countries.....so this was a salute to that statistic !

One of the very pleasing aspects of the Holi celebration of a few days ago, is the breaking down of barriers, gender, age and religion....a good time is had by all, as identity is obliterated.

However, the view from the 17th floor was impressive and one could only marvel at the superb lines of the Rajiv Gandhi Sea-link opened by Sonia Gandhi in 2009, with its 420 ft high concrete towers and fine mesh of suspension cables, linking West and South Mumbai and costing 16 billion rupees - a highway over the Arabian Sea.

HOLI SMOKE

HOLI

A misty full moon overhead and neatly stacked pyramidal tepees of dry wood, round pats of dung and at the apex, the faded detritus and ragged remnants of the 'Kite Festival', these pyres lined the road in readiness for the bonfire lighting which precedes the colour festival of Holi.  Carts with heaps of coloured sand, looked blindingly colourful under the hot sun.

This festival celebrates the end of Winter and a welcome to Spring.  All barriers come down as everyone celebrates renewal, casting off the old and embracing the new.  Water pistols filled with a mixture of coloured sand and water, make formidable weapons as everyone tries to daub everyone else with as much colour as they can - obliterating the old identity.  This raucous display, makes the old miniature paintings of Lord Krishna celebrating Holi with Radha and the Gopis, look very sedate !

And in other countries they'll be celebrating this time of year with Easter Eggs !