Landscape Diaries

It’s a emotional moment to share my journey

Practicing landscape architecture, the road less travelled.

Or precisely the path I would want to pursue or rather

The path I want to rediscover myself. (it feels better this way)

 

I remember the very first day of my college where we were asked why we took up landscape course…

At that moment, I had no answers nor was I too keen to understand the depth of the question.

 

It has taken -The entire journey here in college to get my purpose for studying the same…

small instincts, many incidents, study trips particularly the buddiguppe village ,class discussions have finally helped me to understand myself .

 

Post thesis,,I Stumbled upon what next,,

the idea of working in an office leaving my kids sure negated my energy levels.

2 years of pause in architectural practice, losing many clients as I soley wanted to focus on studying and ofcourse an emptied account ,made me anxious.

 

This new change coupled with the pandemic scare,made me think my sole purpose of doing a post graduation after a decade.

 

And so I began Connecting the dots with a series of travel…

 

Trip 01

My grandfather made pots for living,as he carefully added detailed touches to mould the clay pot, he narrated small experiences of his grandfather and stories of the kings that always made my eyes glow.

 Walking in sugarcane fields,seeing the process of jaggery making,playing in paddy fields on kambadahalli and coconut fields mangalore ,getting soaked in small rivulets passing through fields ,these memories surpassed my mind,as I wondered the significance of the same.

 

The recollection of a large shed,a place for Sheeps and cows with a large back yard with a curry leaf tree,mango trees ,rohitaka(aphanamix polystachia) made me restless.

 

So I decided to visit all these places to find meaning to my the story.

 

The house we lived was in a Small village called Kambadahalli(meaning village with pillars),in mandya District.This village has a temple complex panchakuta basadi,a Dravidian style masterpiece of the ganga dynasty.and the village gets the name from the Bramhadeva pillar (manastamba ) ,erected in front of the temple…..and the memory of me visiting and praying in this temple as a kids flashed upon me ,

 

all this I came to know only 5 months back

seeing the landscape of the village I grew up,instantly made my heart heavy ,as I was unaware of the place ,that was so dear to my father ,where he grew up till he was 18,where his father,granparents lived and perished.

There was something calling for me.

 

Trip 02

3 of my aunts were married off to Uttara kannada district where they continued the profession of making pots.My parents occasionaly visited Koojihalli (kooji means mud and halli means village)and my grandmother settled here after my grandfathers demise.

we often travelled to my paternal aunts place for functions and vacation.

 

Kujalli village is located in Kumta Tehsil of Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka .Its about 6km from Kumta district.As of today my uncle is one of the last remaining potters of Koojalli.

 

There is a hint or some instinct  because this  means a time when over ten households in Koojalli were involved in the intricate profession. “Around twenty years ago, there were at least ten or maybe more households making pots but one by one, the people in these houses took up other jobs like coolie work, painting and driving. Including my Father,in search of job to Bangalore.In few years maybe we will have to show pictures to people that they once made pots here…including my kids.

 

The changing landscapes and the need for the saving the last of the skilled profession was demanding my attention.(after all I studied and wrote many assignements about conservation)

 

 

 

Trip 3

My mother Is from Bylakuppe,Mysore.My maternal grandparents too practiced pottery ,until the they married off their only two girls.(mom and aunt).

Site Roughly half an acre , a courtyard house ,garden in the front and a large back yard with hens running all around,a composting pit,lots of flowering plants ,kanakamdra,spatika ,dundu malligae (I so much now muse over the botanical names) fruit trees like sapota,guava ,sitaphala,was must in all the houses.there was no boundary between neighbors and the landscape were all connected.

 

Today boundaries and fences mark each landscape and the architecture has is lost.

A small niche to keep footwear in the jagali with lots of jumping frogs in shoes ,around the front gardens gives me a laugh,as my kids have hardly seen a frog ,where as  I held them in hand and played in the garden.

 

My father ,the only educated out of the dozen,an engineer moved to Bangalore with intention to give good education to us .

Soon he made Sparks plugs from earlier pots,he was not happy but content with financial support that came along with it.

And me an architect designed our own house with not a single patch of grass, with not a single plant in my house.

All these memories ,and me doing landscape architecture after 12 years ,gave me a motive and realized where my heart lies and its never too late to pursue anything in life.

Myself The only architect in family,now a landscape architect in both family of 216  individuals (this is my side alone).My husband side,I am yet to explore.

Most of them are engineers,married to engineers settled outside India.

I realized why I loved plants so much, why botanical names interested me even more and subjects like conservation, big words rejuvenation, oh this word my favorite reclamation ,physiography ,topography ,sustainablity were making even more sense.i was able to stitch all the incidents into a single frame.

 

Life is full of surprises ,from understating the true self to the whole new world of landscape architecture..i decide to follow my heart.

I now know exactly what path lies ahead,but yet

I hesitated ,I was desperately giving excuses,I was afraid to take up responsibilities ,fear of failure,no projects ,who will give me work, these thoughts lingered.

But I have to Run to my fears anyway, if I wanted to be true to myself .

And just like a child just asks,,I too asked the gods

 so I made up my mind ,packed my bags , boared yet another train

 My Office ,my dream.not a destination but a voyage that I want to enjoy..

Took One step at a time.

Got the company registered.

Gave it a name ,created a profile ,wrote a list of things I want to accomplish as a landscape architect.

Did an office puja,,asked for everyones blessings,

Announced to the heavens,,yes I will start my own work and will give my best shot.

But all days are not a the pumping with energy types,I have equally bad days,and some painful setbacks

Nevermind,,I started preparing myself,,being physically fit and honing professional skills,afterall we need to be prepared before asking for what we need

Sketching ,lots of reading , botany,gardening in my terrace, ,excersing, meeting all the architects I worked with.

Until one day,,opportunity slowly knocked….and I am really excited to share these opportunities with you all

I humbly Welcome you all  to my world….