Necessity and Choice

At any given point of time, some things in life are done out of necessity, whereas others are done by exercising the privilege of choice. This behaviour is seen in all walks of life and at all Times.

Cycles used to be a necessity for a generation that couldn’t afford vehicles. And by cycle, we mean travel distances, planning of the day, carrying things on cycle, multi tasking, and trying to optimize other things. In this web of life, wherein cycle had been an intrinsic ingredient, relationships with people, flora, fauna, seasons, time, and self are different. People who used the cycle as the only means of movement, didn’t think of it as a sustainable tool – it was a ‘default’ tool of movement. The cycle might have also indicated slowness, frustration, effort, staticness for some. People then desire ‘speed’ – and with it – other faster modes of transport like privately owned vehicles.

By owning vehicles (which become a necessity), we gain speed, do things faster, quicker and are not tired to pack in more. As speed of life increases, we come to a point, wherein we relook at the cycle as the most sustainable way of movement. This point, is a point wherein it is easy for us to exercise the alternative choice of moving by cycle without jeopardizing our economical conditions – in other words, whether we own a cycle or a vehicle doesn’t make a difference to us.

Think of rural conditions in that manner – what seems quite sustainable and exotic to us to look at – ways of living, building houses, moving, storing, cropping patterns etc. – is a necessity for the local community to live in that way. When the local community look at the urban situation (us), they aspire to be like us, but we have known the perils of moving with speed.

Expand the above relationship of rural – urban by relating respectively to developing nations – developed nations. Ideas of sustainability endorsed by developed nations are already lived by developing nations out of necessity. Sustainability might appear as a conscious choice (and exciting/ thrilling choice) for developed nations. For developing nations, it is downright equation of survival.

Information Explosion

This is a concern that seems to be voiced in various parts of the world in recent times. Let us look at some changes in our ways of thinking as a result of this phenomenon:

The most crucial change that seems to occur is its effect on time. Time is not meant in an objective way here. By ‘time’ we mean having sufficient mental space to observe things around us, to learn from our surroundings, people, nature and so on, to learn by actually doing things at the required pace and commitment and “wait” for the fruits of our efforts. Crucial in above situations is the aspect of observing, doing, waiting and therefore learning from such modes of existence. All such actions require appropriate personal involvement with the activity at hand and by giving the required amount of time. Such learning leads to the feeling of being “connected” with the given place, people and ourselves. Such connections are important to make us realize the values of interdependence, sustainability, tolerance, compassion and hope. People have found solutions to problems much before the computers or any kind of mass media was invented – how did they do it? This means that people have an inherent ability to improvise, given the challenge they face in front of them. Many, many things (in terms of predictable/ rational information) may not have been known to the society – yet the spirit of human beings have triumphed. In all the forward movement of life that we witness, one of the key ingredients is ‘faith’ – to continue believing that things would turn out good irrespective of many unknown factors.

By continuous exposure to loads of information, we seem to jeopardize a kind of ‘learning’ experience that comes from direct observation, by doing and waiting patiently for the result. What gets changed is the nature of learning – from being personal and place specific, it is replaced by the virtual environment. More than that, it is tending to be just informative and rationally inclined. Since it is projected as rational, we tend to look at our world only in terms of problems and think of just rational solutions. We falsely believe that we can control all of the world’s events and thus unknowingly raise our own expectations to control everything. This, in itself, can cause a great deal of stress. Rational projection of information tends to streamline everything, logically connect everything and make us believe that everything can be planned and everything can fall into its own place provided we follow the plan. However, the “real non-virtual place” out there requires interactions with people who are messy, different from us and thus, all online predictions can fall flat. Another cause for worry!

We seem to have also lost the art of listening attentively to a person, since our mind races ahead the moment we hear some decibel. We are fast to analyze and conclude and close the chapter. We hardly discuss and hardly let our mind evolve a solution or discover a solution. We want to prove a point always, voice our ‘opinions’ and say that we are different from the rest of the crowd. If everyone carries the same attitude, what’s the point in voicing our views? Who is going to listen? And is there going to be any discussion at all? So, we are again disconnected with people and ironically, feel lonely, despite the constant crowd and the noise that hovers around us. Information overload also tends to make us believe that we need to adapt to the micro changes that keep on penetrating our minds by continuous exposure to the internet. We are influenced by what happens in other parts of the world. Frankly speaking, we can’t digest the volatility that is projected continuously. We keep on ‘updating’ ourselves, we can’t seem to arrive at a decision (since we feel that more information needs to be gathered) and we procrastinate. We doubt everything, we fear everything and consume everything. We run but are not stable. We don’t know where to focus and everybody seems to be in some kind of panic mode. The fundamental thing that seems to be happening by an extremely fast paced life and continuous exposure to information is a terrible sense of disconnect with our own deeper feelings and by extension – the entire environment. To lose connection with ‘us’ is to lose connection with our own outlook towards our life. Summarily – this is ‘shrinkage of time’.

A new choice is born out of this situation – how much to run? How fast? How much to stay online? How much to change? Why not wait? Why not slow down? Why not give a smile and see the sun? What difference will it make if we do not pack in a lot of activities? What is there to fear, if we lose something? And, do we actually own anything at all, in the first place?! If no, then why run?

If you think that it seems proper to slow down, then step aside!! Welcome to the opportunity to know your own potential!

The idea of perfection

The idea of perfection is intellectual and intuitive. Let’s consider the idea in both these perspectives:

The intellectual’s idea of what it means to be perfect

1.       Efficiency, productivity, planning, and making optimum use of the available resources (that includes Time as well) is a priority here. Thus, the stress is on creating an ORDER.

2.       Since the stress is on order, if it is predictable – all the more better! Thus, a perfectionist is likely to hate deviations or spontaneity in a given sequence of work.

3.       Legal – The given work can be rational dissected and legally bounded. If there’s anything that seems to be outside the rational or the legal, then that’s either non existent or it has to be framed in the legal scheme of things.

4.       Emphasis is on the ‘individual’ alone. ‘I’ becomes very prominent. Negotiations, trouble shooting, arguments, become the norm of the day. Stress increases.

5.       Perfection was either in the Past or is in the future – That is, perfection is conditional. I had a great childhood experience, so past was great and I was happy back then! Or, unless I have a great spouse, perfect home, perfect job, perfect kid, perfect weather, I can’t be happy or perfect. This thought can keep us dissatisfied throughout our lives. The idea of perfection in this case, is “illusionary” since, we are assuming that the Present moment is NOT perfect for us! Because, we think that we are NOT perfect. Why should such a habit of thought arise, is difficult to state, but it is born out of the way in which we get trained to perceive things around us.

6.       Based on above, “change” of any kind is a huge stress factor for people driven by the intellectual idea of perfection. What doesn’t change? We change, our thoughts change, our bodies, mind, people, working styles, environments, societies – everything is bound to change. Therefore, one needs to be critical regarding excessive demand for perfection, because it can cause a lot of pain in the long term perspective. For me, being too perfect is equal to being too predictable and that can happen only if one is dead!

The idea of perfection based on intuition:

1.       Change is a part of Nature. Thus, observe the patterns of change and respond to it. It constitutes the reality of life.

2.       People behave with different frequencies. They have different perceptions, attitudes, and respond to situations in different ways based on their own tendencies. Thus, perfection deals with embracing this variety. No one is right or wrong – they are just people, like you and me, trying to reach somewhere which itself is subjective, as an idea.

3.       Let people be as they are. The emotions, fears, thoughts, experiences are valid, in themselves. They will discover their own way of understanding things. They should be given their own time to do so.

4.       With this, comes the understanding that it is not required to ‘race’ just like others are doing. For what are we racing for? And where are we going? Do we even know the destination? Or shouldn’t it be a journey of discovery?

5.       Discovery of ‘us’ leads to enjoyment perhaps. What discovery are we referring to here? Discovery of our innate nature as a life form. Discovery of our own thoughts, tendencies, emotions, feelings and so on. Discovery that others too have all these dimensions and they are affected by them. Discovery that we may control some aspects of our lives, since majority of the things would just continue to happen – regardless of whatever we might do or think. Discovery of letting go and generating ‘faith’.

6.       Discovery that – we are already perfect! This is NOT a snobbish conclusion. The idea of perfection in this case – is related to the feeling of stability of the mind despite the changing circumstances surrounding it. This raises a question – what is stability then? Thus, understanding of the term of inherent/ intrinsic stability will offer us the clue of feeling ‘perfect’ at any instant.

How to Design

How to ‘design’?......

Did the first people refer to any manual to cook or build houses?

This is a simple question, but it is time to reconsider this question, since it seems to be falsely believed that we can’t do a thing without ‘referring’ to any available information.  The above question, if thought over more deeply, will reveal that the process of learning something depends on observing, the act of doing and improvising. It also deals with intuition. All these dimensions constitute something much more that just facts and scientific information at our disposal or “analysis”.

One learns to swim by diving in the water, not reading a manual! Same with cooking or architecture. The problem with today’s education system is that it values information over the “act” of “doing” a thing and learning/ experiencing a phenomenon. Ideally, no school (in terms of a bounded space) is required for learning or gaining knowledge of one’s choice. After all, what is knowledge? Or better still – what is the purpose of all knowledge? One purpose maybe to know the Truth (or to understand Fear or Uncertainty). If that is the case, then knowledge production (or “revelation”) is required to be a personal act – something not standardized or mass produced. And it seems to have an intrinsic relationship with the doer. So, a process of self exploration is mandatory. Now the point to be asked is, does the current education system (and the information available of the internet) cater to the requirement of self exploration? Most people may not be aware of what self exploration is, if they haven’t experienced this process at all.

In self exploration, there is no prior guidance available in this scenario. One discovers the process by gut instincts, trial and error and intuition. Over the period of time, one learns to optimize the process and learns faster. One learns what suits one’s self. One learns about one’s own tendencies and fears. I keep on referring to fear because it exposes our limitations of thought. Fear is a ‘block’. To discover one self is to untangle and decode fear. It is a painful process. Indeed, the ‘pain’ is a result of opposition our mind creates to tackle fear. Any new situation will generate this cycle. And therefore, perhaps the essence of life, is to tackle fear at every step, so eventually, we may tend to be more free in our approach to do things.

Coming back to my field –which is design, we are required to generate a solution for a given unique situation (set of people, time, site, climate, constraints, budget, materials and so on). We are required to visualize something, that does not exist before. It is like catching some kind of a ‘ghost’. What form will that ghost takes eventually (as architecture) can’t be predicted on day one. We are required to always encounter this unknown terrain of conceiving ideas. Every design act, if carried truthfully, should make us vulnerable, give us pain and lead us to a ‘eureka’ moment. The uncertainty and the stress are inevitable. These experiences are caused because we don’t know answers to many things at the start. We are required to take millions of things in mind and think of a solution that can give best to the client (at the minimum) and to the society (at the maximum). In between, we are required to respond to time, perceptions, feelings, culture, climate, materials, construction, and so on. This is learnt, only by doing it again and again.

In an academic environment, students tend to short circuit this process by referring to “readymade” solutions offered on the internet. They forget that:

1.       Architectural response is “contextual” – very much related to the spirit of that place and time. One can’t just copy and paste a structure from one part of the world to another. This tendency seems to exist because students are not stretching their imagination to a greater extent and perhaps are not willing to critically ask questions regarding one’s taste and position. One must develop a tendency to look “beyond” form and be wary of the dizzying awe inspiring “forms” that global culture consumes. Form is nothing. It is the idea (or the thought or the value or the concern behind the making of the form) that should be understood.

We should be aware of the current scenario, where everything (information) is available in an instant and too short a time is given for synthesizing a solution.

In practice too, this short-circuiting a sincere effort has got much to do with compulsions of producing “quantum” of works, cheap labour or non recognition of talent, undercutting of costs and severe competition. We all must face this grave scenario. I am not here to say what should be done or what is right or wrong. In India, there are conditions where people struggle to survive and in such conditions, how can quality, ethics, be assured? There are scenarios where “ideal” talk of architecture just breaks down and it seems useless even to generate any kind of a hope.

Leaving such scenarios apart, can’t we give serious thought and effort to the architectural product we hope to create? Can’t we begin today? 

Healing.

What if, just as the Sun comes and goes and returns again - unquestioned, unhindered, silent, mute, all sharing, we also learn to be as we are - with all our tendencies?

The most essential part of remaining silent and being observant/ mindful of our actions - is to heal ourselves. We need this experience for our own benefit. Everyday, we run, we fragment ourselves, we argue, we try to prove something, we pack in quantum of tasks and information, we multitask and we strive to be as productive as possible - all for that ghost idea of being "secured" and achieving comfort. In the end, it is just our thoughts that affect us to the core. If thoughts race ahead and appear fragmented, so we become.

Healing ourselves involves being aware of the nature of our thoughts and how they seem to create and continuously fill our minds. Thoughts can't be stopped - they have come from our birth and they would continue to be created in us, as long as we live. Thoughts mean our basic urge to survive, sustain ourselves in the given environment. But they also display emotions, feelings, imaginations - since we are concerned with our own existence. We have the awareness to look at our own thoughts and control them, as we realize that only they create an experience we call "life".

However, the conflict is in our expectation to control the thoughts in absolute sense. Our attachment to existential phenomena is enormous - mind, our body, family, people, physical materials and even concepts like prestige, desire, longing and so on. Attachment is because we believe that our survival depends on such things, and as long as things change, they affect our thoughts and we get affected. Any object, situation, manifestation is bound to change. Any object, situation, manifestation (or creation) has place-time quality and that is how we perceive our existential world. It is impossible to expect place-time to remain static or in our control - thus we continue to act or run with the hope that we will "catch" this elusive thing. What we are running for is a vacant space. The Space is to be "realized" in us.

To realize the space in us, is to experience that it is an all encompassing dimension of everything in this universe. Space is there and therefore, we exist as a phenomena and not the reverse. As Space has no start or an end point, it is beyond control or analysis or question or justification or security or comfort or stability or any other manmade concept. We exist in spatial terms as well as existential terms.

By slowing down ourselves and our thoughts, we may sense the presence of space in us. This starts to heal us because, we no longer fight our thoughts or run away from something or run towards anything. What we start to do is to only "be" in this space-thought dimension and accept it the way it is.