‘Homogenisation creates cultural amnesia'
How has globalisation influenced the architectural language of Indian cities over the years — are we losing the essence of 'place'?
Globalisation has played an important role in expanding the architectural imagination in India. However, in this pursuit, we are rapidly losing the nuances that define our places. Architecture, at its core, must be rooted—it is not just about form, but also about memory, community, and climate. When every city begins to resemble another, we risk erasing the very distinctiveness that makes each Indian city unique.
From Gurugram to Hyderabad, we're seeing a skyline of glass towers and luxury condos that could belong anywhere. Why do you think Indian developers and architects are increasingly favouring this aesthetic over vernacular forms?
This tendency is a reflection of aspiration, a strong belief that the international aesthetic symbolises success, modernity, and global relevance. Unfortunately, this often comes at the expense of cultural specificity. The faster we realise that true progress lies not in mimicking but in interpreting our own context meaningfully, the more resilient and relevant our cities will become.
In a climate like India's, local architectural traditions evolved with deep environmental sensitivity. Why are these principles often ignored in contemporary urban design?
It's not a lack of knowledge but of conviction. Everyone across the ecosystem—from architects and developers to clients and governing bodies—has a role to play. Many traditional principles, evolved over centuries, offer simple, elegant solutions to complex climatic challenges. Yet, in the rush for speed, spectacle, and perceived contemporaneity, they are either forgotten or treated as decorative afterthoughts.
Do you think there is still space in Indian cities to build a new kind of modernism—one that's global in ambition but rooted in local culture, climate, and history?
There is not only space, but an urgent need. One example from our practice is Ekatma Dham, the redevelopment of the sacred town of Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh. The project is conceived not merely as a pilgrimage destination, but as a cultural and ecological intervention that reinterprets spiritual symbolism through contemporary architecture. We've drawn from indigenous building traditions, sacred geometry, and regional materials to design spaces that are both evocative and enduring. Projects like these demonstrate how modern architecture in India can speak a global language without losing its native voice.
Growing international collaborations in Indian real estate often bring pre-packaged design templates. How do you negotiate with clients or foreign partners to preserve a more contextual approach?
The key lies in making a case—not just aesthetically, but economically, climatically, and socially—for contextual relevance. We see ourselves not just as service providers, but as cultural interlocutors. We introduce our partners to the stories, materials, crafts, and climates of the place. Often, once they begin to engage with this depth, the design brief itself evolves into something more meaningful than a replication of trends.
What do you see as the cost of this architectural homogenisation—not just visually, but culturally and socially?
When cities lose their distinctiveness, their people lose a part of their identity. Architecture is a living archive—it tells us who we are, where we come from, and how we live together. Homogenisation creates visual fatigue and cultural amnesia. To the next generation of architects, I would say this: Your role is not only to design buildings, but to shape belonging. Learn from the past, listen to the land, and build for the future—with care, with relevance, and above all, with honesty.
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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Rakhsha Bandhan, protectors and repaying a debt of gratitude
Street Dogs are the biggest allies of women in a city where the biggest threat is Men A couple of years ago, as the Dhan Mill Compound in Chattarpur started to develop into this elite oasis of high art in the otherwise dark, Pataalok-esque neighbourhood, I found myself, after an art event, waiting for a taxi. It took almost 50 minutes for a cab to arrive, and it would have been terrifying except for one thing. Actually, two. Two brown-eyed Indies, unconditionally and instantaneously, became my besties for the hour, waited, demanded pets, all the time that I waited in that pitch-dark lane, a heartbeat away from becoming a crime file. I didn't have a scrap of food to give them; they had no reason to wait with me. No sooner had my cab come, they disappeared. Seeing me off to safety, back into that pitch darkness. These unconditional, instantaneous besties are the spirit of the Indian landscape. They will greet you in remote locations, lonely streets, offering their company, protection for absolutely nothing. If you're wondering why there is an overwhelming proportion of women in the street dog rescue movement, you will know how many of us have been offered their safety and guardianship, from the biggest predators on Delhi's streets — its men. Just a day before the shocking judgment of 11th August, I was talking to a friend about the whole 'dog' Rakhi trend, a big moment for pet-commerce. Animal lovers are laughed at for anthropomorphising our pets, and of course, some of it is comical — part of the whole giddy-cringe delightfest human-animal friendships bring out in us. But while putting a dress on your dog qualifies as genuine silliness (even if harmlessly fun) what is certainly not anthropomorphic, is our belief, our expression in the sacred nature of these friendships. Stray, community, pest or resource: The naming of dogs While the traditional term 'pet ownership', has been eased off in favour of 'pet parenthood', there are beautiful concepts across cultures. The Hawaiian term 'Kahu' meaning 'guardian' (of something precious), stands out for coming closest to capturing the essence of the relationship. Nepal famously celebrates Kukur Tihaar, an ode to the selfless friendship offered by dogs. And the mainstreaming of 'dog' Raksha Bandhan in the India of the 2020s, quite aptly includes our most fierce guardians/protectors. Most dog lovers would agree that such single-minded love and loyalty can, in no real measure, be returned. The little that we humans do in terms of food, shelter, treats, are just a minuscule fraction of repaying that debt. This is why the language of an animal hater (although they seldom own up to being one) is quite simply baffling. RWA uncles and several news media like using the term 'stray dog menace' with a poster of a dog, with blood dripping from its fangs, and bloodthirsty eyes, straight out of a Ramsay Brothers film. Some time back, a prominent media house featured a video story of a woman being 'attacked' by stray dogs in a parking lot. I saw the video. The dogs were wagging their tails, trying to play with her. They were also extremely young, about 8-9 months, fledglings, and this hulk of a woman shrieking at their playful pawing looked, quite frankly, comic. What isn't comic, however, is this building momentum of anti-dog bias, a certain kind of narrative that portrays stray dogs as killers and predators. An RWA personnel from our neighbourhood described a one-year-old baby-faced pet Bhutia dog as a 'wolf-like, vicious creature', when in fact it is a baby who jumps to hug anyone in sight. That people with a real phobia of dogs are now occupying positions of power, through RWAs, news channels, or city administration, means that this neurosis gets amplified to dangerous levels. What used to be a neurotic aunty in your neighbourhood, shrieking at the sight of a dog, is now the core of public debate. Earlier this week, a moderated discussion on a mainstream news channel had five journalists discussing the issue. Even the ones who purported to be 'animal lovers' were using the word 'pest'. One of them, who started out sounding very noble and animal-friendly, claimed that stray dogs try to 'hunt' you. Let's break down some things first. The current position of community dogs in Delhi is far from ideal. The unchecked population. The lack of a clear policy on aggressive 'biter' dogs. The neurosis machinery that feeds anti-dog bias. Most critically, this entire set of beings is invisibilised by the state. And— as I have written about elsewhere — by the development world. Their cause treated like zero priority, animal welfare activists have been reduced to caricatured feeders/rescuers. As I speak, our dog lovers colony WhatsApp group is circulating an Excel sheet recording the vaccination and sterilisation of all colony dogs. Every dog on that list is sterilised. Funded entirely from the pockets of those caricatured 'animal feeders'. Dogs in large numbers form packs and can look pretty intimidating, especially when they come charging at you threateningly. That's all it is, really. A warning. And an introduction. 'Hello, I this is my lane. Don't act smart.' One of those TV anchors claimed that she needs to be ushered from the parking lot to her home by a male member to protect herself from stray dogs. The same could be said about men. Only, the women of this city do not ask for its entire male population to be bundled up into non-existent shelters, mostly because there is no room for such a discussion. Or because some of us know that, because of the actions of some men, you cannot put the entire male population into pounds. How, then, is this logic not applicable to stray dogs? It is also this quality of vigilance that makes them the best guards. A friend of mine, a resident of Alaknanda, reported a robbery sometime back in their society. The thieves had figured out the alarms and locks of most houses on a particular block. They only left the one building, which was guarded by an army of stray dogs. The resident of one of those flats used to feed them. Some RWAs have used these qualities to their advantage. In 2004, when I was a cub city reporter, our paper had carried a story about the Golf Links RWA, training its stray dogs to become colony guard dogs. Even in the present day, there are RWAs in West Delhi that are taking care of their dogs, treating them as members of their community. The dogs offer their guard services in return. Depending on how you channel them, the 'strays' and 'pests' can also be converted into 'assets' and 'resources'. The other arguments in favour of 'streeties' are, of course, the ecological ones. That completely stripping our dogs off the streets will disturb the ecological balance, causing the population of rats, monkeys — and other 'rabies-causing' animals — to grow. A public health professor at Edinburgh reported that stray dog removal will reverse rabies gains made over previous decades. But outside of these utilitarian reasons, the real reason to keep dogs — besides the fact that humans, in fact, don't own the planet — is simply this: they are our greatest friends. Our street dogs are part of our fabric, in the same way our languages are; they are the essence and the spirit of the Indian street, with its chaos, confusion, and screeching horns. They are part of our stories and legends, starting from Yudhisthir, who was tested for his 'loyalty' to a street dog (and only thus allowed into heaven), to the 19th Century yogi Baba Lokenath, who came disguised as a brown mongrel to his disciple's home, to see just how kind hearted he truly was. In the last week, as dogs have been increasingly stripped off the Indian streets, partly by 'unofficial white vans' and partly by dog rescue groups, the streets are beginning to look so bare, so sterile. The pick-ups & the protests As I type, dogs are being illegally picked up by 'unofficial' white vans, with the help of hired stooges who are paid per dog. My friend in New Friends Colony woke up on Saturday morning to find her streeties had just disappeared overnight. 'The entire lane has gone quiet,' she texted. There are videos of multiple dog carcasses that have been hastily dumped into drains. It is clear where these dogs are going. Meanwhile, the MCD 311 app, which registers all civic complaints, has not acted upon potholes, bad roads for months on end given by several of my neighbours, is suddenly, within minutes, assigning case workers to complaints pertaining to street dogs. This stands in contrast to video footage of haunted ABC centres in Delhi, deserted and unused. The locks in some look like they haven't been opened in years. On the other side, a catacomb of dog rescue groups has emerged in the city. Dog groups always existed, of feeders, or rescuers, dog lovers, colony-wise. Now, the entire city is connected. Through various channels, protest groups, night patrolling groups, and those monitoring key legal information, proof of dog abductions. Our colony group is fundraising to put all our dogs in a private shelter. People of every age group, every dispensation are on the groups. They are spending sleepless nights on Delhi's streets, working on night shifts. It seems, for every animal hater, every entitled 'human being' who believes the earth is solely for them alone, there are others. People who are fighting for their very soul, who are not bullied by sanctimonious armchair op-ed writers who are telling them this is a middle-class obsession ('why not focus on Gaza instead?'). Because finally, when you have a chance to protect our friend, you take that chance. And repay a debt towards the oldest friendship known to man. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
New Indian Express
9 hours ago
- New Indian Express
A pinch of Tamil touch
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Time of India
14 hours ago
- Time of India
Restoring balance: 131 turtles thriving in Hajo temple pond to enter the wild
1 2 Guwahati: Temples have emerged as an unexpected safe haven for turtles, turning into conservation hotspots. However, experts warn that this trend is creating an imbalance, as turtles are incredibly rare to be seen in their natural habitats. To restore balance, Assam state zoo has planned to release several critically endangered turtle species into the wild. The state zoo is working in tandem with authorities of Hayagriva Madhava temple, located in the town of Hajo in Kamrup district, 30 kms from Guwahati. Temple authority has handed over 131 turtles, which were growing in the temple's pond, to zoo authorities. Ashwini Kumar, state zoo DFO said the turtles are currently in quarantine, and will be released into the wild after 15 days. "We are monitoring the turtles to ensure that they are healthy, and we will be releasing them," the officer added. Kumar said the 131 turtles to be released include black softshell turtles, Indian softshell turtles, peacock softshell turtles and Indian tent turtles. The black softshell turtles are endemic to the Brahmaputra basin, and are listed as 'critically endangered' in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list. Meanwhile, the Indian softshell turtles and the peacock softshells turtles are listed as vulnerable in the list. Pranab Malakar, a resident of Hajo, who is also known as the turtle man said turtles are more commonly found near wetlands, instead of temple ponds, as it disturbs their natural balance and survival. He added that the turtles often face overcrowding, lack of food and poor water quality, which can spread disease. Malakar, who has been engaged in turtle conservation since 2007, recalls that the historic Madhava Pukhuri pond dates back to the Ahom era. Originally built under the reign of the Ahom kings, the pond featured natural sandbars and a rich aquatic environment, which made it a perfect habitat for turtles to thrive. "Being part of a Vishnu temple, it became customary for devotees to release fish and turtles into its waters, considering them as reincarnations of lord Vishnu. Over time, this age-old religious practice turned the pond into a refuge for turtles," Malakar said. He added that in 2006, the pond was encircled with concrete boundaries, which made it nearly impossible for turtles to nest and lay eggs. To address this, Malakar himself intervened — removing sections of the boundary walls and creating artificial sandbars to provide suitable nesting grounds. Today the temple pond is home to more than 1,000 turtles of 15 different species. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
