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Connections

Can you quantify happiness? 

Ok, I see your predicament. When were you happy last time? Called a friend? Had a lush dinner? Slept after a long time? Don't say Netflix binge is your favorite. (Not judging) Fine, you can lie that you gym and jog. 

Mine is appreciation after I write an article. Mind you, it is not the only pleasure I am guilty of. Among many it is at the top of my list I can assure you. You know, it is not easy for policy student to write. Boring briefs, and white paper drafts ... yuck. 

They do add flavor to the power corridors making changes in their own style. I like to play with the emotion as you read my piece. 

Recently I wrote an article about Electronic City in Bangalore. Oh yes, I finally got a chance to do it. It is not easy to fire up the grill and cook a tikka as you desire. I fleshed out that baby drawing from my experiences of dirtiest underbellies of that city. The unsaid, ignored, cornered talk ... relax, it was just taboo that was written through and through. 

Do you know? I am in class with an author, designer and business leader, haven't you heard of her, oho! Aparna Piramal Raje? No? Ah, man, you have to attend her class and sit alongside when she teaches. I did(on zoom). See, the thing is she put her finger on my pulse when she asked me to see this, documentary- oh such a pain, at first, but I loved it by the middle and was drooling by the end. You see that is one thing I love about cities. Urbanism, people and the politics of the design. It is phenomenal complexity. Humans love complexity and I thrive in mess. I see through the muck, filter through and identify the problem. Boy I did, when I saw the movie and then, I wrote a full five-hundred words within thirty minutes. 

The best writing I have done in the shortest time till date. You see, I wanted to change the public spaces of a city. That is what I came for, and I still want to do that. No, not at all, I am not passionate about it, passion is overrated, and it fizzles out. I am madly and truly convinced about its necessity in public life. Oh yes, it is, you are right, a big a part of democracy, it can't be far from that principle. Any city, how hard it might try, cannot be democratic, truly if it doesn't have design that promotes public spaces.

Do you have a project for me ? let's connect. 

    


PS: Netflix and the Art of Design Writing is a course taught at Anant Fellowship for Built Environment at Anant National University, Ahmadabad. I am auditing the course. I am Anant Fellow 2021. 

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