Rakesh

Bihar Museum

2017-10-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

The recently inaugurated "Bihar Museum" in Patna is a marvelous masterpiece of architecture, the grandeur of which I expect will influence the architecture practice in the region. I am posting the pics of the completed portion of the building here.

Decent Bhojpuri

2012-12-29T21:29:00.001-08:00

Its very hard to find a decent song in Bhojpuri. Also the image of this language, as of now is that of a rotten society engrossed deeply in its ignorance and filth.

I am here trying to compile all that is good in this language. There are some marvelous examples on the internet itself that prove that the decay in the Bhojpuri language and society is very recent. Upto the 1980s or early 1990s the number of commercial Bhojpuri films was very dismal. But cinema then had quality which no and i repeat no recent Bhojpuri movie displays. Take for example Bidesiya, Nadiya ke Paar, etc.

Below i will be adding the links of the nice, admirable songs in bhojpuri. I would be very happy if new songs also join the list.

Mohammad Rafi (Bhojpuri) Sonawa ke pinjara

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sa_guo3G08>

Bhojpuri-Bidesiya-Ishq kare u
(Manna Dey & Mahendra Kapoor)

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU6_vMh3C4Q>

Bidesiya-Neek saiyan bin

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZwbnVDdK24>

Bidesiya-Hansi hansi panwa

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k20HGsWfxgY>

Bidesiya-Na darbai

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=3Pwh_9EXpEM&feature=fvwp>

ORGANIZATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT

2012-05-28T05:41:00.003-07:00

I always marvel at the dedicated initiations and the untiring efforts of the individuals and organizations working for the welfare of the others. Having a job and attending to it daily is a normal routine, but for the people who are concerned with the well-being of others the self-motivation is all they need. I have tried to make a list of such organizations and the individuals are working towards the benevolent cause of human development through various approaches, be it environment-saving, rural development, slum-rehabilitation, low-cost-housing, health-services for poor, etc.

BAIF Development Research Foundation

BAIF Development Research Foundation (formerly registered as the Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation), is a reputed voluntary organisation established in 1967 by Dr. Manibhai Desai, a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, at Urulikanchan, near Pune to promote sustainable livelihood in Rural India.

BAIF's Mission is to create opportunities of gainful self-employment for the rural families, especially disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values. This is being achieved through development research, effective use of local resources, extension of appropriate technologies and upgradation of skills and capabilities with community participation. BAIF is a non-political, secular and professionally managed organisation.

http://www.baif.org.in/index.asp

FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Founded in 1995, Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) enhances the capacity of community organizations around the world to address local health, social, environmental, and economic issues. Its model incorporates four programs that support underserved communities in a collaborative and sustainable manner.

Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) works to build the capacity of more than 300 community organizations around the world to address local health, social, environmental, and economic issues. We are committed to grassroots, community-based action for meeting human needs and basic rights for all. FSD’s programs provide multi-faceted support to our global community partners.

Community Partner Training & Project Support

Grantmaking

International Development Training Programs

http://www.fsdinternational.org/

GRASSROOTS INDIA

Environmental degradation has led to a significant decline in the quality of life for mountain communities. The Pan Himalayan Grassroots Development Foundation (Grassroots), a non-profit voluntary organization, works in the central and western Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to promote sustainable, self-reliant development at the village level. The emphasis is on self-help participation working across the integrated issues of water & sanitation, renewable energy, community forestry, sustainable agriculture and enterprise development.

Our aim is to initiate people’s action for the restoration of languishing river basins through holistic mountain development programs. Through our work we assist communities achieve the Millennium Development Goals as well as mitigate and adapt to the pressures of Climate Change.

At the heart of our approach is the belief that villagers have the desire, the right and the capability to actively participate in the decisions that affect their lives. By bringing the regions local groups together, we attempt to create a movement, pressing competently for ecological restoration across the central and western Himalayas. Self-help groups of women, viewed as the bedrock of change and development, are being enabled to provide fresh vegetal cover and take appropriate measures to renew habitat-hydrology in degraded drainage basins. Multi stakeholder platforms are being organized to facilitate free flow of ideas regarding sustainable land use, role of appropriate technologies and establishment of community owned enterprises.

http://www.grassrootsindia.com/index.html

Thesis Proposal for Master of Urban and Rural Planning

2012-05-19T21:54:00.002-07:00

It seems the second semester too will be over like the first one. The exams were almost fine. I am excited for the next semester that starts with a six-weeks internship and then the processes of Thesis. The topics have already been decided, though minor changes in the aims and objectives can be there. The topic that I have taken is "SPATIAL DYNAMISM OF URBAN GROWTH- ITS RATIONALE AND IMPLICATIONS", case being of Siwan district, Bihar. Choosing a topic was very confusing at the beginning. Slowly, however picture became clearer. So many aspects (of my own) were to be fulfilled:

Topic should be of my interest.
Something of wide applicability.
I must be able to finish it in the stipulated time of one year.
Case should be of place that I know, and can relate to.

INTEREST
I always hated the dummy design projects in my Bachelor of Architecture days. Here also, after joining the Master of Urban and Rural Planning in IIT Roorkee, I could not escape from that attitude of mine. Here also the studio classes in the first and second semester want to engage you in some or the other projects that are almost always hypothetical or bearing some remote relation with the existing field situation. Such exercises repel me. Even when the design project was to be based on exact field data and real-life situations, I could not appreciate it, since the fact that this exercise amounts to "aplication-of-what-you-have-learnt" job takes the excitement out of it. Why waste time on doing something that yields nothing....? These exercises always started with some assumptions of their own and went on to create problems of their and ended with you finding "solutions" to them through your design.
I know my perception is very twisted and it has many basic drawbacks, but what to do.....I feel this way only because of my interest in Theories, which I find more appropriate for the academic works. Theories are something that are exclusive for the academicians only. The practical exercises though studio classes can be very effectively done through the internships, why waste time on them in the class. Anyway I don't want to make an universal comment on the issue. It is just that I like using my academic years in the academics and theories.
That's were I decided to choose a topic that would require working on theories, or may be even developing one......! Spatial dynamism will be studied of the case taken and a general conclusion would be derived, hoping to find some trend and theory.
WIDE APPLICABILITY
This topic seeks to address a large part of the country. Small and Medium towns are the most in number, and the most uncared for. Governments and policy makers attend to the needs of either the very big cities or the very small villages. The small towns lying in between these extremes fail to gain much. The reason for this lies in the characteristic "slumber" and "dullness" of these small towns which have got almost all basic needs of varying order through some arrangement and seem to be content with that. Other reason being their large number. The large cities are small in number so they can be taken care of easily. And though the small villages are also large in number they can also be taken care care of as the policy makers tend to allocate very little money to them; sufficient enough to provide the basic amenities. But the small towns lying somewhere in the middle fail to attract the attention.
My topic of thesis addresses the case of a very small town, the likes of which are more than 5000 in the country. A proper programme especially for them needs a proper study of their spatial dynamism, which would trace their past trend and project the future too, enabling the policy-makers to perceive the needs.

ABBREVIATED AD

2012-03-05T23:51:00.003-08:00

PURA.......whats that....?

The Govt. advertised in the Hindu newspaper making the proud announcement about the inauguration of the PURA........a scheme aimed at the welfare of the rural areas and hence concerning to the vast majority of the masses.......yet the ad fails to provide a clear idea of what this actualy is.....what PURA stands for.. Being a student of planning, I however already knew its "PROVIDING URBAN-AMENITIES IN RURAL AREAS" and have posted sometime ago an article regarding the same, but what about the common folk......are they expected to guess the meaning by themselves.......I wonder. No doubt the strategies and means for the achievement of the hare there in the ad, infact very elegantly they have put it in a graphical manner, and its really good, alas its for the aam admi to be introduced of the scheme through this ad and not the professional that may be a mere thousand in number as opposed to the billions who would be gasping for this abbreviation.......!

A little consideration of the aimed audience and readers could have avoided this insensitive mockery......... If only the guys sitting in the chairs in the ad agencies (public or private) had thought the least about whom they addressing to.......!

When exams are over

2011-12-03T05:08:00.000-08:00

We all hate exams. Every year comes this event of fateful remorse and hate and frustration, once or twice depending upon your education system. The semester system brings two such events. And this is when I feel like being put into some cage, no coming out unless the show is over. The situation even worsens when the preparation is not satisfactory or the expectations are higher. Most of the times the lack of interest in the studies brings such a case. But the sheer normality of this event can't be negated even then. That this hatred would be there in everyone's psych more or less. Moral of the story being, we all hate exams. But despite all this, I miss the exams and their schedules once they are over. Its not because I like the exams but its what comes after the exams is over, nothing to do, no class to attend to, no assignments to be done.......a sheer hollowness shrouds all around, and I can feel it for more than a week after the examination. Hollowness, I was thinking is it bad or good and how is it bad or good? Ain't it the indication that during the exam period, when I was studying with utmost efficiency, I had achieved a proficiency to study hard, and go on like that? Shouldn't then this untapped skill be put to some use? Will sure do something this time and try to carry on this tempo only. God bless me..!

RURAL DEVELOPMENT for INTEGRATED DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT

2011-11-09T18:35:00.001-08:00

The district tobe developed integrally (Sagar district, M.P. in this case) consists of mostlyrural areas, so they natural deserve more and careful attention. Recently Icame across a book “Spatial Organization for Integrated Rural Development”, bySuresh Chand Rai. Regarding my assignment I found very relevant points there.Excerpts are presented here:-

“Identify the primary service centres and delimittheir service areas which are viable enough to support a package of servicesbenefiting all the village people”.

“General ServiceCentre Plan” (GSCP) and its accompanying linkage system whereby agriculturalpoints are integrated with the other sectoral minimum-need-points. (Roy,Pradipto, & Patil, B.R. 1977)

…. “ Acombination (of agriculture, industry, commerce, health, etc.) ensuringproduction of those goods and services that matter to the masses…….(and)diffusion of opportunities for production and employment, are the basicobjectives of rural development”. – C.Subramanium, 1976

1. GSCP (General Service Centre Plan)

a. Identification of locational and functional gaps.

(Every settlement having thepopulation threshold of a function must have that particular function)

b. The Spatial Integration and Functional Coordination.

[spatial integration refers to “anexercise in completing(functionally) anincomplete system (of settlements) and attempting to combine the differentparts of that (regional settlement) system in a coherent pattern. ( Sen L.K.,et.al. 1971)]

Functional coordination ofsettlements can well be realized through their functional hierarchy.

2. Agriculture and alliedResources Development Plan

a. Removal of physical andcultural constraints

Physical Constraints:-

Vagaries of nature,

Infertile soil,

Bad surface drainage, etc. and

Cultural Constraints:-

Bad tenure system (of local selfgovernance),

Fragmented holdings (i.e. smallagricultural plots per farmer)

b. Institutional and structuralchanges like land reforms. Ceiling on Land Holdings, Consolidation of Holdings

c. Adoption ofseed-fertilizer-irrigation technology, for increasing the agricultural produce.

3. Planning for IndustrialDevelopment

a. Agro-based Industries

i. Cooperative dairy farming

ii. Cooperative poultry farming

iii. Flour mill and power-ghani

iv. Agricultural implements repairworks.

b. Forest-Based Industries

i. Bidi-Making

ii. Saw-mill

iii. Paper-mill

c. Cotton-Weaving Industries

i. Durries

ii. Handloom

iii. Power loom

iv. Khadi

v. Spinning mills

d. Other small scale industries

i. General repair works

ii. Dyeing and printing

4. Planning for Socio-EconomicFacilities

a. Social facilities

i. Education

ii. Health

b. Economic Facilities

i. Agricultural facilities likeseed-fertilizer distribution cntres

ii. Commercial facilities likebanking and cooperatives

iii. Marketing facilities

1^storder (wholesale mandi),

2^ndorder (retail daily markets),

3^rdorder (retail kirana shops)

iv. Veterinary Facilities

5. Man-power Organization,Environmental Control and Plan Implementation

a. Man-power planning

i. Self-employment (schemes needto be checked for efficiency)

ii. Food for work.

b. Women and rural youth indevelopment

Village sanitation, maintenance ofvillage roads, control of soil erosion, plantation of trees, etc can be takenup by Mahil Mandal, Nav-yuvak Mandal Dal, etc.

c. Rural Technology

i. Biogas

ii. Solar heater

iii. Water recycling

iv. Low-cost housing/ hay-boxes

d. Development of weaker sections

e. Cultural Development:- “Changes in social attitudes, concepts, beliefs, values and norms, etcprevalent in each society, which lead to the increased levels of consciousnessand aspirations” (Sundaran, K.V. et. al.)

f. Rural Housing

g. Floods and droughts

i. Dams

ii. Canals

h. Soil erosion and conservation

i. Embankments, etc. for checkingerosion

ii. Re-fertilizing the “usher” land

iii. Cultivating crops aftersoil-testing only.

i. Planning for socialforestry.

[Plants should be raised rapidly onall the available marginal lands, blank areas, road/canal-sides and gram-samajland. It will fulfill the purpose of maintaining the eco-balance, controllingthe soil-erosion, pollution, provision of fuel-wood, fodder, timber, fruits,etc.]

j. Plan Implementation and Management System

[ The conventional trickle-downtheory based on percolation-system has failed. So grass-root approach ofplanning should be emphasized upon.]

Identificationof growth poles is very important here, so that the whole district coulddevelop as a whole, integrally. Forthis we need to identify the urban or semi urban areas within the district.These semi-urban pockets (as coined by Harshad R. Trivedi) act as the catalyticpoints of development emanating from which the impulse of development willspark the growth in the adjoining and connected places. However Harshad Trivedifurther observes, “Semi-urban pockets provide a threat and challenge to theprogram of planned change in rural areasin so far as community development programs have overlooked the aspirations ofrural elites and needs of the under-privileged.”

Ref:

SpatialOrganization for Integrated Rural Development, by Suresh Chand Rai.

Coins collected

2011-11-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

Over the years, the coins I kept aside just for my appreciation for their speciality have taken a form of collection, which I hope to go on increasing their numbers....!

THE ALCHEMIST

2011-11-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

Browsing though the files and folders in my hard disk I came accross a notepad in which I had collected the best lines from the one of my favourite books, The Alchemist...........Thought it deserves a place here..

THE ALCHEMIST

1. He told himself that he would have to start reading thicker books ; they lasted longer , and made
more comfortable pillows.

2. It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting .

3. A shepherd always takes his chances with wolves and with drought , and that's what makes a
shepherd's life exciting .

4. When someone sees the same people everyday , they wind up becoming a part of that person's life .
And then they want the person to change . If someone isn't what others want them to be ,the
others become angry . Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other peoples should lead their
lives , but none about his or her own .

5. World's greatest lie : "at a certain point in our lives , we lose control of what's happening to us , and
our lives become controlled by fate ".

6. what is destiny ?
It's what you have always wanted to accomplish . Everyone , when they are young , knows what
their destiny is .

7. One great truth on this planet : whoever you are , or whatever it is that you do , when you really
want something , it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe . It's your mission
on earth.

8. "When you want something , all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it ."

9. People learn early in their lives what is their reason for being . May be that's what why they give
up on it so early too. But's that 's the way it is .

10. Treasure is uncovered by the force of flowing water , and it is burried by the same currents.

11. Principle of favourability / Beginner's luck:-
When you play along cards the first time , you are almost sure to win . Because there is a force
that wants you to realise your destiny ; it whets your appetite with a taste of success.

12. In order to find the treasure , you will have to follow the omens . God has prepared a path for
everyone to follow . You just have to read the omens that He left for you .

13. "The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world , and never to forget the drops of
oil on the spoon" .

14. "In the money there is magic ; whoever has money is never really alone".

15. "There is a language in the world that everyone understands , a language the boy had used
throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop.
It is the language of inthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose,
and as part of a speech for something believed in and desired."

16. "Making a decision was only the beginning of things . When someone makes a decision , he
is really diving into a strong current that will carry him places he had never dreamed of when
he first made the decision ."

17. "If I could , I'd write a huge encyclopedia just about the word "luck" and "coincidence" .
It's with those words that the universal language is written."

18. "The closure one gets to realizing his destiny , the more that destiny becomes his true reason
for being."

19. "Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life , when the
histories of all the people are connected and we are able to know everything , because its all
written there ."

20. "When you want something with all your heart , that's when you are closest to the Soul of the
World . It's always a positive force ."

This is not just a human gift , that everything on the face of the earth has a soul , whether
mineral , vegetable , or animal - or even just a simple thought .

Everything on earth is being continuously transformed , because the earth is alive ......... and it
has a soul . We are part of that soul , so we rarely recognize that it is working for us.

21. Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.

chilly December

2011-11-03T06:56:00.000-07:00

Its quite a comfort if I am enjoying the chill lying in the rajai and doing nothing. But the moment I see the people on the road, sitting and waiting for the chill to subside but nowhere to take a shelter, it disturbs me. I fail to grab any idea that could suggest me what I should do in that situation. Once I tried to distribute clothes among them. But is that enough ............... What I did .......?I collected my old clothes, packed in a bag and went to where I could find them the most....ie. Gandhi Maidan, gave them the clothes and returned with a heavy and....well light heart.

But that is not done there all that was. I kept fighting with my inner self.........u know why?

me: Hey why r u calling me bad names? what wrong did I do?

inner me: U used those people as a compost pit. Have u no shame? U swine?

me: how..?

inner me : uhh. Tell me, did u really want to help them?

me: Ofcourse.

inner me :Rubbish.....that's how u can interpret it to the others not me. I know very well that u had those clothes kept in ur cupboard for so many years. U surely wanted to get rid of them, but at the same time u didn't know of any place where u could easily throw them. Throwing on the road was never ur choice. That's why u dumped these in the Gandhi Maidan...................in the hand of these helpless guys...........

me: Hey, who the hell r u? How can u talk like that? Do u even have any idea, why I couldn't throw the clothes on the road...............?Because I always believed that everything has to be used in the best possible way. And that is not throwing.................By the way those clothes where not so worn that they couldn't be used to keep the chill at bay. I know that very well. And stop being so insensitive.

Even after many days, I still have such fights..............

Though these fights have nothing to do with the real world relationships but they are good in making my strong and emotional decisions...........though confusions try to gobble my mind.

2011-11-03T06:52:00.001-07:00

AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

If affordability is the main concern then , in all respects the cost of production is to be brought to the minimum. Because it is not the affordability of a millionnaire that we are interested in , but that of the least privileged .
       So , for affordable housings , the cost of production and hence that of purchase must be brought to the lowest possible level , fulfilling the minimum standards of human living.
       Here don't shy away in using the phrase "minimum standard". This is the level , below which man can't be happy and comfortable . Hence , I assert that the first and foremost aim of the architect should be to provide just the minimum standards of human living and not above that , because the more you provide, the more they will have to pay.
        Thinking in this direction, one may get temted to think of reducing the facilities to the extreme,so much so that it cuts the cost very much. But don't you think this has to stop to some limit. Nd this is tthe limit that i am talking about. You bring down the cost as much as you can , but you must provide those minimum facilities, otherwise , what you have planned won't be affordable housing but just a slum in disguise.

                                             MINIMUM STANDARS OF LIVING:

     * For any organism to survive , light , air and water are the first three main requisite elements . They must be provided to the minimum required level at least ........ , though they can be provided more that the minimum requirement level .... as they are naturally available and no one gets a bill for air and light at least . Increasing the level of light and air uplifts the spirit of the person living there and is appreciated in all respects.......... on the other hand it owuld be an extra edge.............

     * Living Spaces :

       1. bedroom/s
       2. drawing room + children's bedroom + living room + dining room

     * Services / Facilities :

       1. kitchen
       2. toilet
       3. storing spaces

N.B. :   If anyone feels that these facilities are too little , then for sure it is not for you . It is for them who feel for it...........i.e. find it as comfortable and dream-like........ Because people do live like insects... It's for them.

lets Travel

2011-10-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today I came across a remarkable article by Shashi Tharoor, explaining the merits of travelling, esp. within the country itself. I choose the word "remarkable" because this is very much similar to what I feel and to what I am trying to do whenever I get a chance. Following are the excerpts from that article that I would have liked to say but Shashi Tharoor made my job easier....!

To travel is to wilfully leap into the unknown - to give up the assured security of home for the exigencies of the world.

We inch closer, howsoever marginally, to becoming - as the Greek philosopher Diogenes first called himself - a "citizen of the world".

For some, like Mahatma Gandhi or Charles Darwin, travel provided intellectual and moral reasons to empathise with others

travel forces our minds to adapt, to rethink, to reevaluate our prejudices and to recalibrate our passions in ways far removed from conventional education.

We may know more facts about others, but our discourse suffers from Asperger's syndrome: the remarkable inability to empathise. Unlike those individuals who suffer from Asperger's, we have a choice.

If we are to grow into a country that is open-minded, we must learn to not just leave the windows of our homes open to the world, as the Mahatma advised us, but also step out and engage with the world. The best place to start is in India itself - large, multiple, diverse, and in many ways unknown to its own citizens. To encourage young Indians to travel through their own land would reify the idea of India for the next generation. It would be a journey well worth undertaking by all of us.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorial-views-on/columnsothers/The-end-is-a-journey/Article1-761529.aspx

Kedarnath

2011-10-25T05:38:00.000-07:00

Kedarnath ......yes this time it was here that we landed up after a good dose of liquid and gaseous form of excitement.....! Like it has happened earlier too, this time we were in the best place we have here to hang out with friends, talking on non-topics and laughing on non-jokes, cursing on non-mattering matters....and gulping down the juices...! When you have all those non-mattering matters all around you, the minds seems to be excited being free...! So it brings fresh and genuine ideas....! This time the ideas was to go out and drink on the banks of Ganga. So we were out....!

Revolution2020

2011-10-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

Just completed reading the latest book by Chetan Bhagat, "Revolution2020". Mixed reactions came up while reading and after I completed the book. Let me try and recall all those incidental reactions and sparks that erusted between the lines:

1. First of all I had not expected such a title from an author like Chetan. All his previous books testify that. Well it had to be new like every new book, so fine........its not very big issue......but I still feel he should have thought of some other title. (Most readers will agree here).

2. Even before the 1st reason this one comes.......yeah its the colour of the cover.....PINK.....! I mean pink is sure not a neutral colour.....so there must be some reason,......I deedn't get it however... Was it because two guys were after single girl and that girl to some extent was the core around which nearly all characters seemed to hover.....?.! But ain't that the plot of nearly all Chetan-Novels.......?

3. The book really succeeds in reaching out to the small town, non-achieving, mediocre mass that constitutes of the major(most infact) part of the face of the earth. North India being the stage of the drama, qualifies for that.

4. The author's research is impressive, right form the details of the ghats in Benaras, philosophy associated with the city, mindset of the average dwellers there and like cities in India, to how to start an educational institute on the highway........Good job really.

5. The book very innocently goes on to handle very complecated love scenes, though these might remind one of other great books featuring the same, like "The Fountainhead", in which Ayn Rand handles the same triangular love scene with uncomparable complicacy, which to most seems out of the world, but reading these two books together might give the readers some clue to understand what Ayn Rand wantd to portray through Dominique who was torn between the love from two sides and at the same time some hint of hate also..... Dominiquewas married to a successful architect Keating, but Howard Roark was someone whom she hated for his intelegence and was at the same time attracted to him for the same reason.....! She keeps on the same conflict for so long and keeps on fighting, though never gave up either of the two..... Here the two books are quite different in their approach and characters but the content of human feelings is to extent similar, however Chetan Bhagat has tried to maintain simplicity in his words.