you learn through play..

I visited Pondicherry, Auroville and Chennai for the first time in April 2007 with my dance friends, teacher. We stayed in mothers ashram for some days in Pondicherry and visited Auroville’s Matrimandir for one day..
I love both these places so much for the amount of peace and discipline these places follow,
While roaming around mother’s guest house area, her ashram, areas near her samadhi, cottages, all departments, specially the place where we used to eat.. wow.. one must experience the silence, peace, discipline and ‘food’ out there. In reality I feel they are the only one who execute pin drop silence. no one wants to check mobile phones… no one dares to.. you are not compelled to do the same .you are only requested and that says it all about the polite behavior of those people and their efficient management skills. You just cant say ‘no’ to any of the things they wish u follow visiting these areas. you may ask me by now, who was ‘mother’?? is she your mother?

Mother was french lady and her name was ‘Mirra’. people must have started calling her as ‘mother’ as she was the person who did so much for the mankind, for kids, for child. you name the area and mother have contributed something in the same. Two of her works, dreaming architecture of Aurovilles Matrimandir, working on that 'dream' in reality and opening international school will always remain inspirational to me. She was so good in everything she did..
how can one dream such a beautiful architecture piece who is not even an architect.. how can she choose colors, patterns so well?? how could she know materials so well? Her drive to perfection and enthusiasm is something you experience in every little she does. those who have visited matrimandir will stand by what I am saying here. ‘Golkond’ building (now hotel) took so much time for construction but I still wonder how they managed natural air conditioning with stones alone?? Mother knew how to do things differently better. We also visited one of the schools one day. saw amazing enthusiasm by elderly crowd who marched so well that day..

Anyway, back of my mind I was so moved and inspired to do something alike. it immediately strike me if I can design some school in Pondicherry ? I really wanted to design some school now….
as I came back to pune this desire remain somewhere back of my mind. I started with my other routine work. Never knowing this would really happen to me :) And I will get to design school soon! not in pondicherry but in pune. Never the less. if you have heard and believe this dialogue from movie om shaanti om “ kehte he, agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho, toh puri kaynath usse tumase milane ki koshish me lag jati he……”

1st may 2008.. labours day! Holiday! and one lady called..
all she wanted that day was appointment on coming Sunday!
Me: mam we are off on Sunday (obviously after early morning dance practice, travel and heavy lunch I prefer watching movies, who wants to work on Sundays??)
Leena (name held with privacy) : mam, Sunday will be better for me… and I have very less time to do things.. (again the routine demand)
Me: what is it all about? what you want to design? area? Sq.ft?
Leena : mam I have to design a nursery.. and its located……….
I cut her immediately..
Me: nursery??!!!!!!!!!
Leena : yeah….
Me: allright I will confirm appointment on Sunday itself.. if you can visit office by12pm ?
Leena : ohh.. ok .. Sunday any time will do!
The only thought stuck that time was.. its something for kids..it’s a school!

Sunday morning after dance practice my teacher gave me one beautiful picture of ‘Mother’, the picture she got from her recent visit to Pondicherry. today I believe it was more than just a coincidence of my teacher giving me mothers picture same day when Leena was going to visit me.
And I was waiting for her now. Flat one and half hour late.. I was irritated.. i cant even take 10 minutes late come easily. needless to say punctual myself. soon she entered with 4 year old kid.. sweating, irritated (more than me) and was asking her child to behave well! I got the picture and got calm down. We had a long conversation for 3 hours and meeting concluded with my first site visit another day!

Very strict budgets, time limitations and more to it, it wasn’t just another office or residence for me to design. It expected to carry out different official and residential activities simultaneously. Being a kindergarten school it had to have nursery, day care, club, outdoor, kitchen, reception altogether. Total second house for children of 9months to 4 years age who learn, educate, play all under one roof. In short it was a challenging project, which expect a fine blend of science with art.
I was rethinking! Whether to take up this project? one mind said plain simple ‘no’.. Accepting this project definitely means somewhere rejecting other. which can be from usual marwadi, gujrathi, corporate clients.
Dance being integral part of my life I somewhere need to manage my time well, save my energy for the same. i don’t have much time for trial and errors……I need to be selective. whether picking this project will benefit me? And How?
“You can not balance your loss with other profits. still lots to be done priti! You have arangetram coming up.. girlie don’t fall for this. My mind was calculating fast……….
and just next moment of realization, I was so shameful of myself.. how could I even think no? Being in service industry, designing bar is also my duty so as designing school. I should be glad that I get to do this! How could I rethink?? But it happens..
when you are into business its hard 'not to' think business always and when you are pursuing some beautiful art along with your profession you need to be selective so that you meet a good balance in both!
Finally my dilemma ended. I took up the project. Before I started designing, I personally visited almost 10 kindergarten schools around area. I will say every school was disaster when it came to designing! each school had painted heavily on wall.. Mickey mouse, Donald, Dora, all cartoon characters.. and nothing more than that they had to teach child.. I was wondering if these are schools?? no thoughtful concepts, no precautions, not even a proper designed concept chart for numbers, letters.one of the school had no railing for staircase. And this staircase was leading to daycare area (9 to 24 months old kids) I was wondering how mothers will be leaving their children to any of these school??
may be these places were not planned well, may be they didn’t appoint any designer to do things but they had all the money to paint so heavily on walls, and do what is not really necessary to do. I could not make out any school differently as they all looked so similar with heavy painted walls around and nothing much happening on floor. only one school could come to my rescue which looked better than all others..!

my project place was comparatively different and small than any others and I had to use each and every corner well now. It took me four months to design and execute the same. Most of time went in deciding and searching how this school can look different, simultaneously executing those different ideas.
I must say my client was helping me a lot when it came to different things.
I was not treating this school as any other typical Indian school. My focus was to execute everything good collected from across the world. Be it a toy or entire new activity for child to learn through play. It was more than each day headache when it came to execute things out of the routine job of interiors. Everything I liked was mostly unavailable in Indian market. Anyone bet me find 3 feet and above tall dollhouse with every room and every activity placed in it.
India has only two types of doll houses
1.doll house _ a fabric or plastic house shape tent
2.doll house_ as box as one 17” computer.
one option was to ship things from abroad but we thought lets make it.
it was my clients push that I went into torturing myself with toy designs, activity corners.
most of the time we deny saying , its not my job. Its some other master’s job (toy designer, product designer may be) never giving a chance to be a master our self. Today I can proudly say “ yes this is the little different school in pune which has child to learn more than cartoons, colors, and to learn through play. This School’s punch line says “play, learn, shine”…. and school interior gives every reason for the same, to play... to learn.. to shine..

I will not say I designed things very differently. In fact poor budget didn’t allow me to play much with new things. 50% of ideas, designs we could not execute due to budget and space limitation.only one thing I took care of was to ask myself and argue with my client again and again whenever it came to reasoning anything.. I have strong reasons of doing particular thing or not doing so. Though with every work there is always a balance sheet of flaws and assets.. I have my own set of grievances of the same, that without much of interference and proper harmony I could have done things much much better..
‘Graphics’ of classroom are something,I wished were more educative and contemporary.. they didn’t come out that well..they could have been so better.
I wanted carpet on staircase.. wanted better bedsheets for day care and so many things which did not happen due to difference of opinion between me and client. but one don’t has control of every small thing. Its next to impossible to convince client and do their brain wash in every little small thing.. few things are left for client to regret later, on account of not following the consulted suggestions :) :P I managed headache upto my tolerance level leaving rest of the things to happen on merit of their own destiny!
never the less I managed to do my job well..afterall
with every new work one plays
with every new work one learns
with every new work one shines!