He used to wear a ‘komanam’, but worked as a bank manager. This elderly uncle of mine, I found him very strange and unique. My memories with him are only when he used to visit our house twice a year on occasions. He called me ‘ Dei..Maplai’… though i was less than half his age. He used to have ‘vethla pakku’ ( betel leaves )in his mouth always and smelled of ‘paneer pugai ilai’ (flavoured tobacco leaves) always. That was his favourite. I still feel his smell, as I write this.Whenever he comes home, there are a few stories he used to share with me, some of them repeated. His most favourite was the ‘Nayar kadai’ wash. This was about why tea stalls put their ‘koni’ (coir mats) on the road to be washed by the tyres of the passing vehicles.
I come from a small suburban school in Madipakkam, with not much exposure to the outside world. Nor there was anyone in the family who knew much about various courses after school. My sister had joined engineering and I was only sure that I did not want to join IT or ECE. So before my board exams, I was in this ‘zone’ where I did not know what to pursue further. So by chance, I had been to this uncle’s place and he asked me…” Ennada maplai… adutha enna panna pora “. I told him, I was not sure but I do not want to do engineering. He looked at me with his mouth full of vethla pakku and smiled. He went out, spat out the vethla, in his own style and spoke to me. “There is something called Architecture, that is a new trend emerging now and will surely have more people taking it up in the near future. Why don’t you give it a try and see if you like it”.
I had no clue what ‘Architecture’ was. Went to a ‘browsing centre’ nearby and googled ‘Architecture’. To my understanding, it was something similar to civil engineering, but the only difference was that engineers ‘build’ and architects ‘draw’. I thought it was not a bad idea, after all and started searching about how to apply. Then I learned there was something new called NATA, an entrance test for Architecture that had to be cleared. Back in 2007, when it was introduced the idea of NATA was brand new. There was only one ‘popular’ coaching centre by a renowned artist in Teynampet. We called them up to find out the fees structure, but could not afford it. But there was no one else who offered this class at that time, other than the one I found in a newspaper ad. This class was inside camp road, Selaiyur. I changed three buses and reached the place, expecting there would be more students.
But to my dismay I was the only one! Later there was another student who joined. It was the two of us. He was a retired engineer I guess. And he used to give us all of his old books to read. And we used to go through it so religiously. As I think about it now, it sounds very strange, but that time it was very serious business. Because if i do not clear NATA, then I will have to join engineering. I took up the exam and I failed, not once but twice. I joined sketching classes in a place nearby, in a hope to clear the entrance. Luckily, there were an average of three attempts, and i cleared not in flying colours, just above average. And then I got the last seat left in Anna University counselling.
There was a small column in the newspaper on April 2 2007 in ‘The Hindu’…
“Laurie Baker, pioneer of low-cost houses, passes away“. This is the first time I am reading news about an Architect. And I thought some random architect had died of old age. This also reassured me that Architect as a profession is ‘famous’ because they come in the newspaper once they die. Thus began my story of ‘Why did you join Architecture’, a question that is bombarded to all students, to an extent that they feel more confused after joining’. Explain about design principles of Laurie Baker’ – Part A – 2 marks. This is my only memory of Baker in five years of Architecture, because he is just another ‘question’ to be answered for an exam. After few failed attempts and the day that I decided that I cannot get into a ‘sustainable’ firm, I got a call from ‘Sathya Consultants’ asking if I would like to join.
The first time I met Sathya in 2012, I felt I have seen him before somewhere and then recollected about the face in a news article in 2007. They both looked similar to me, Sathya and Baker. There were a few ‘unique’ things that he followed in his day to day life. He had a running ‘Maruti 800’ which would listen only to him, and he never washed it. It was dusted with a cloth on occasions. He was one of the persons, who practiced what he preached for he believed. ’Eco-friendly’ does not depend on what you build but how you live. One of lunchtime conversations he said “Please do not take any pride in calling yourself ‘sustainable’ architects’, for any building that we do cannot be ‘sustainable’ in the context of Bangalore. He questioned and broke down all notions around ‘eco-friendly’ architecture. He was very ‘transparent’ with his clients and did not believe in giving ‘false pride’ about what they are building. There used to be a smudged A4 sheet stuck to a dusty board in his room ‘Principles of Baker’ and he strongly adhered to it. My introduction to Baker was not through architecture but the life of Sathya.
‘Cuckoo Echoes – Laurie Baker’ has come in a time today ‘Baker Architecture’ has become an ‘in thing’ that is ‘sold out’ only through visual senses. Hope the words of Baker will definitely give more clarity to those who seek.
“ Bricks to me are like faces. All of them are made of burnt mud, but they vary slightly in shape and colour”