Friday, September 15, 2023

Book Review: The Fountainhead


Ayn Rand in her book, The Fountainhead
Has extreme characters created;
Controversy too remains to these days
In depiction of architecture in many ways!

No doubt, the book is a novel, a fiction
With much friction and contradiction;
Writing is an art; for the crowd, better it is
When characters represent oddest of narratives!

Architecture, too, offers a full-circle-go
Of good and bad, high and low;
The right fodder to prove Rand’s point
With the living art as a converging joint!

There is no middle path:
Only extremes in her 700 plus pages swath
Of writing on individualism and collectivism;
Plots often supported by yellow journalism!

Bizarre and absurd theories but a good read,
Stories intertwined, situations sculpted to bleed
Mankind against mankind, one against the other:
The profession of architecture torn apart altogether!

We may say Ayn Rand has peeled the rot,
Exposed the evils, disengaged the knot
But, in reality, more controversy is added;
The Fountainhead is miserably architecture-cladded!

Photo Source: Google

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Recession Rains


“If you have no bread, eat cake,”
Get baked or frozen when life’s at stake;
Recession is apparently here by any definition
Combined with inflation, speculation and inhibition!

With construction sector being a component
Of ‘loan-freeze’ from banks at the moment,
Are we okay with our priorities?
Have we learned lessons from faltering countries?

Markets are down with less circulation of money,
Businesses are into days none of which are sunny!
Is this not recession? Let’s be frank;
We may reach a dead end to be point-blank.

I think we are many months into recession
With downward spiraling of income;
Denial is an obsession but we rather discuss
Implications and all avenues to cope with loss!

Boni, the first cash income of the day is elusive
And many go home empty-handed in rains abusive;
The onus isn’t on those opting for greener pastures
Nor on borders porous as economy fractures!

Summer, too, has encroached into the next season
While Nature reasons to blame human treason!
Are all our problems for the scapegoats to fix
As we blindly seek many non-issues to mix?

Who all are affected? It is right from quarries
Spreading even to unchartered territories;
‘Dignity of Labour’ was many years of mentoring,
What image of future are the blue collars fathoming?

The carpenters, masons, plumbers and welders,
And some SOEs are out of favor as nation builders;
Dealers in construction materials, electrical and hardware:
When recession rains, it's time for self-care!

Picture Source: Google
For representation only