[ad_1]
“It was not meant to be so hot,” says architect Gita Balakrishnan. When she set off from Kolkata on February 13, planning to walk to New Delhi over two months, day temperatures averaged 25 degrees Celsius. Balakrishnan, 53, hadn’t accounted for an unusually oppressive north-Indian summer. “I thought I’d be dancing my way down that final stretch, but it’s 42 degrees here,” she says.
Balakrishnan might still break into a celebratory jig. Her journey, Walk For Arcause, has cut through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. She has often walked 30 km a day, stopping at homes, schools, town squares, forts, forests, universities, palaces and crafts studios en route. When she ends her walk on Saturday (April 16), she will have covered 1,700 km.
The walk was organised by Arcause, a platform for architects, designers, engineers and builders, to highlight the importance of responsible design. Balakrishnan seems singularly suited for it. She studied at Delhi’s School of Planning and Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She has helped plan Tibetan settlements in India, shelters for the urban poor, a directory to help rural women access credit more easily.
In 2002, she set up Ethos, an organisation that aims to bring architectural and civil engineering students closer. She has also completed three full marathons.
“I chose to walk, not run, this distance because walking slows you down. It lets you see the world at a different pace,” Balakrishnan says. “People, especially children, can catch up with you. You, in turn, are less of an outsider to them.” Often, fellow architects, local craftspeople and design students would join her for a stretch.
The walk has wended through towns big and small, taking only minor detours from main highways. “It hit me how palpably different stress levels were in the villages,” Balakrishnan says. “The heat-island effect in cities is real. You feel a distinct whiff of comfort when you walk away from one.”
Walk For Arcause revealed a fast-transforming landscape, as countless rural families take advantage of government schemes to upgrade their homes, typically razing traditional mud structures to construct generic brick ones. “They know that brick homes aren’t as comfortable in the summer or winter,” Balakrishnan says. “When I ask why they want to move away from a mud home, they say ‘Everyone else is doing it’. For most of them, design is not a conscious decision or a priority. No one’s thinking of what is needed or what can be done better.”
Some of the unplanned stops have been most interesting. In Madhya Pradesh, two brothers waved as Balakrishnan walked by, insisting she visit their home. It turned out to be a 50-year-old labour of love: mud walls, a roof of clay tiles, proportions and structural integrity worked out on site. They still hand-wove their charpoy, ground grains at home. It struck her then, Balakrishnan says, that today “we don’t know how to build a new home with the same passion.”
In most places, Balakrishnan says people were curious about her journey. “Often, I was the Pied Piper.” Children headed to school in the morning would follow her. Many had never heard of architecture as a field of study, so she conducted workshops before their classes began, and got them to sketch their own homes and discuss what they liked about them.
A common thread runs through Balakrishnan’s journey: Architects aren’t making themselves heard outside the big cities, resulting in ad hoc construction in towns and villages. No standard guidelines exist for which materials work better for a region and its climate. There is no culture of learning from others’ mistakes. Cultural markers like regional motifs and colour palettes are being erased.
“Many people cannot afford architects,” Balakrishnan acknowledges. “And architects get upset when you ask them for a readymade template or design. But surely we can set up a framework, perhaps a series of sketches and recommendations that can be made freely available in local languages.” Local workers deserve to be included, she adds. “There are many layers between the hands that build and the ones that design. We need a stronger connection between the two.”
Balakrishnan and Arcause are hoping to submit a report on her observations to President Ram Nath Kovind, along with a plea for a framework for future construction.
“On one hand, the pace of construction is so fast, we’re losing so much, it’s slightly concerning,” Balakrishnan says. “On the other, there is a lot more construction to come. If we act now at the village level, there’s a lot that can be done.”
.
DELIVERING A MESSAGE
* The long walk has long served as both the medium and the message. Since 2013, Paul Salopek, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and member of the National Geographic Society, has been walking eastward, from Africa all the way around to South America, retracing ancient migratory routes and rediscovering the world on foot. The Out of Eden Walk is currently in China and will conclude next year. Part of the mission is to promote slow journalism.
* In 1988, Serbian artist Marina Abramović and her German partner Ulay trekked from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China, intending to meet and marry in the middle. They did meet, but realised they no longer wanted to marry. They returned to Europe separately.
* Last year, Tibetan freedom activist Tenzin Tsundue completed a 127-day walk across India’s Himalayan region, covering about 20,000 km to raise awareness about 70 years of Chinese occupation in Tibet and the security threat it poses to India.
Access this premium story for Free on the HT app
Enjoy unlimited digital access with HT Premium
Read unlimited premium stories for free on the All new and revamped HT App
Subscribe Now to continue reading
[ad_2]
Source link
In patients with fixed pulmonary hypertension with right heart failure, the prognosis is very poor buy cialis online without prescription
does viagra affect fertility Cells were harvested at 24 h after induction and used for immunoprecipitation western blot IP WB analysis
white goat was soaked with sweat, and occasionally dripped into the mud under his feet buy priligy J Infect Dis 1994; 170 3 543 552
allegra side effects what is allergy medicine called exact allergy pills
how to buy prednisone prednisone 40mg drug
prescription medication for abdominal cramps buy lincomycin for sale
strong acne medication pills omnicef uk how to get rid of spots on face
can taking pills cause heartburn septra cost
order isotretinoin 10mg generic accutane 20mg price order accutane 40mg without prescription
amoxicillin order online buy amoxil 1000mg amoxil 1000mg pill
azithromycin 250mg us zithromax 500mg pills zithromax 500mg price
order neurontin 100mg online cheap buy gabapentin 600mg for sale
azipro 250mg over the counter buy azipro generic buy azipro 500mg pill
buy lasix 40mg without prescription buy furosemide online
order omnacortil 40mg online cheap buy omnacortil 20mg pill prednisolone 20mg over the counter
doxycycline cheap cost monodox
order albuterol sale albuterol inhaler buy albuterol 2mg without prescription
augmentin 1000mg for sale buy generic augmentin 1000mg
buy synthroid 75mcg generic buy synthroid 100mcg generic synthroid 150mcg for sale
vardenafil online order levitra online order
tizanidine pills tizanidine medication tizanidine buy online
buy clomid 50mg for sale generic clomid 50mg clomiphene 100mg usa
buy deltasone 20mg pill generic prednisone 20mg prednisone 20mg uk
order semaglutide 14mg generic semaglutide for sale buy rybelsus pills for sale
accutane 40mg cost how to buy isotretinoin isotretinoin drug
cheap rybelsus 14mg order generic semaglutide 14 mg generic rybelsus 14mg
buy generic albuterol ventolin generic purchase albuterol generic
augmentin canada augmentin pills buy clavulanate online cheap
azithromycin 250mg pills azithromycin 250mg without prescription order generic azithromycin 250mg
buy levoxyl generic levoxyl brand synthroid 75mcg cheap
purchase prednisolone omnacortil 40mg cost prednisolone 40mg generic
order clomiphene 50mg pills serophene online order order clomid without prescription
buy gabapentin 800mg sale gabapentin 100mg brand purchase gabapentin online
buy lasix pill diuretic buy generic lasix 100mg buy furosemide 100mg pills
vibra-tabs over the counter order monodox generic buy generic acticlate
rybelsus 14 mg uk buy rybelsus 14mg for sale order rybelsus sale
casino online usa best slots to play online world poker online
order vardenafil vardenafil 10mg brand buy generic levitra 20mg
buy hydroxychloroquine 200mg sale buy plaquenil pills order hydroxychloroquine 200mg generic
buy aristocort paypal triamcinolone 10mg sale aristocort 10mg oral
tadalafil 5mg for sale cialis 5mg brand order cialis 40mg pill
order clarinex 5mg generic how to get clarinex without a prescription buy desloratadine 5mg without prescription
buy cenforce 50mg generic generic cenforce buy cenforce 100mg for sale
buy loratadine sale buy claritin for sale loratadine order online
aralen 250mg without prescription aralen 250mg brand chloroquine 250mg for sale
purchase priligy dapoxetine 90mg tablet misoprostol online buy
buy orlistat 60mg pill how to buy xenical buy diltiazem paypal
buy lipitor 40mg without prescription lipitor 80mg sale buy generic lipitor
oral acyclovir 400mg allopurinol online order buy zyloprim medication
norvasc 10mg usa amlodipine 5mg cheap order norvasc 5mg online
crestor 20mg oral ezetimibe drug order zetia 10mg
purchase motilium sale cheap motilium 10mg order generic tetracycline 250mg
prilosec without prescription omeprazole to treat reflux cheap omeprazole 10mg
order cyclobenzaprine for sale cyclobenzaprine 15mg pill baclofen 25mg cost
order lopressor without prescription buy metoprolol 50mg online order metoprolol 50mg for sale
order toradol 10mg colcrys for sale online colchicine 0.5mg brand
order atenolol atenolol for sale online buy tenormin tablets
buy medrol paypal buy methylprednisolone without prescription buy generic depo-medrol over the counter
how to get propranolol without a prescription clopidogrel tablet clopidogrel order online
academic writing services uk write research paper for me buying essay
methotrexate 10mg canada methotrexate 2.5mg ca warfarin drug
buy mobic 7.5mg online cheap celecoxib 200mg usa order celebrex pill
metoclopramide 20mg usa order metoclopramide 20mg without prescription cozaar 25mg tablet
buy nexium 40mg generic order nexium 20mg topiramate order
zofran tablet buy zofran 8mg generic spironolactone 25mg generic
buy cheap generic imitrex imitrex cost order levofloxacin 500mg pill
buy dutasteride without a prescription buy zantac for sale order zantac online cheap
zocor sale brand valtrex 500mg buy valacyclovir 500mg generic
acillin cheap buy penicillin no prescription amoxil online order
buy proscar without prescription order proscar 1mg without prescription how to buy diflucan
order ciprofloxacin 1000mg for sale – myambutol 1000mg drug buy augmentin 375mg generic
ciprofloxacin for sale online – sulfamethoxazole without prescription augmentin 625mg ca
buy ciprofloxacin pill – buy chloramphenicol without a prescription oral erythromycin
buy metronidazole 200mg without prescription – zithromax sale order zithromax 500mg without prescription
stromectol tablets for humans – buy ciprofloxacin 500mg pill order tetracycline 250mg online
ivermectin coronavirus – how to get ceftin without a prescription tetracycline 250mg us
buy valtrex 1000mg generic – buy nemasole without prescription oral zovirax 400mg
order furosemide generic – order prazosin online capoten 120mg ca
order generic glucophage 500mg – cost duricef 250mg generic lincocin 500mg
zidovudine cost – allopurinol order zyloprim 300mg canada
buy clozapine 50mg online cheap – clozaril over the counter order pepcid 40mg pills