May
13

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India: Chaos Made Visible

Chaos. That’s what you see all around you when you arrive in a major Indian city like Bangalore. Yes, there are cows wandering the streets… as are people, bicycles, cars and carts. Especially in the last few years, the population has grown so fast, the Indian mega-cities are just popping from the gut with housing, buildings and streets.

But it is a good place to live? A human place to live? Is it sustainable?

140811-IND-Hundred-Hands-Interview

While I was in Bangalore, I had the good fortune to meet Bijoy Ramachandran. He, together with his wife, run an architectural firm called hundredhands. He is a light, trying to make a small change to India’s architecture – make buildings which use local materials, take advantage of the local climate, express an Indian soul – rather than the same steel and glass copy cutters seen anywhere else in the world.

140825-Hundred-Hands-2

Bijoy took me on a quick tour of the city – some of the bad… but also some of the good!

Watch the entire interview for more details on hundredhand’s approach and aspirations to change India, one building at a time.

May
13

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Nimisha sings a holi song – GOLD

One afternoon, through a chance encounter, I met the Indian singer Nimisha Shankar. She toured for many year with her family’s singing group before striking out on her own.

She learned Indian classical music first and then became interested in folk songs. The reason they’re used is for season changes, social gatherings, festive occasions. Their folk musical tradition is almost all passed down my oral traditions. Singers have to learn the ragas and undergo certain musical training to know the notes. Unfortunately, today its a dying art.
She sang a few songs for me on the rooftop garden of a friend as golden sunlight dipped down, coating the leaves of the trees. Listen to the entire song, GOLD, here. 

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