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Corb’s Capitol
Chandigarh is the first modern Indian city that has been built from scratch. Although it can be compared to a European sapling transplanted on to the Indian soil, it has become a natural part of the evolving Indian ethos – a happy amalgam of Nehru’s vision, Le Corbusier’s talent and various other architects’ valuable inputs. Written in a conversational style, this book enumerates and elucidates various aspects of Independent India’s first planned city. The dialogue between two architects, in the first chapter, reveals how there is hardly any scope for their ilk in the city to experiment with new ideas for building various structures, barring the interiors. Nevertheless, there is a certain pride in the way Sharma projects the landmark buildings through interactions with foreign and Indian architects. For example, Jeanerette’s Gandhi Bhawan articulates his take on the Gandhian philosophy; the Open Hand symbolises, among other things, Indian people’s spiritual struggle and the Trench of Contemplation (a part of the Open Hand) has been described as a forum for open air public debates and interactions. This book is rich in information about Chandigarh’s architectural history and the various personalities – with all their foibles – who have contributed towards shaping its distinct character. Sharma also provides us philosophical insights into various concepts that have gone into designing different buildings in Chandigarh. Although there are any number of books on Indian architecture, these mostly deal with the period ranging from the ancient to the medieval. In the name of modern architecture we are able to cite, apart from Chandigarh, of course, only the literature on colonial architecture, especially what Edwin Lutyen created in New Delhi. This book is an invaluable addition to not only Chandigarh’s architectural history but also to the discipline of architecture itself.
This is the autobiography of a retired government doctor who, after graduating from the AFMC, had joined the Indian Railway Medical Service and served in various divisional and zonal hospitals before retiring as HOD. A small town lad from Uttar Pradesh, Tripathi was brilliant in his studies. As he was underage for joining the professional course at the Armed Forces Medical College, he joined the Allahabad University as a stop-gap arrangement. There, he soon made his mark in quiz contests etc and his teachers began to encourage him to abandon his plans for becoming a doctor and prepare for the IAS. But he stuck to his guns. This book takes us through various stages of the author’s life – right from the ragging and pranks stage during his tenure in the hostel to his latter day real-life professional and personal experiences, among other things. An autobiography has often been described as "an obituary in serial form, with last installment missing," but readers may find it more interesting than that.
The British poet and critic Mathew Arnold describes poetry as a "criticism of life under the conditions fixed for such a criticism by the laws of poetic truth and poetic beauty"; a standard difficult to achieve. Renee Singh has tried to look at different aspects of life – not always with a critical eye. In fact, she seems more interested in love – both of the mystical and the temporal types. If The Caress expresses her longing for physical union, then Mystical Love seeks the sublime. These are easy-to-read
poems, some of which are thought provoking.
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CORB
(Le Corbusier) never
wanted to make a city which was labeled Indian, American or French.
Corb looked at Chandigarh as India’s future ..." (From this
book)
Monkey
on My Back
Sacred
Longings