The mind is a room I guess
Where bubbles of ideas move and press
Shaping little things in one’s own controls
And in layers upon layers as the time rolls!
The mind has the walls I guess
Where issues push to address;
It has no limits unsurpassed
And yet within us heavily massed
The mind has a roof I guess
That blocks the sky for access
But it flies highest at speed of its choice
Evoking a ruthless silence to a pitched voice
The mind has facades I guess
And yet the sight I search is too less;
A door to it is the communication
Built on a hard-rock foundation
The mind is a vast space to function,
Walls are barriers of compulsion;
The roof, a limit capped in hardest times
With facades flowing in rhythmic rhymes!
Thursday, April 21, 2022
Saturday, April 2, 2022
A Concept.....
A nucleus of thoughts and notions
Whereby all basics relate to in creations;
A concept revolves centrally and rests as a foundation
With a pulling force for an ultimate exaltation!
The built-form tells stories of an empire
Of structures with deepest purposes to inspire
Keeping concepts of living through history
With the fallen hero or a towering victory
It captures the eras in gold,
Human curiosity and mystery untold
As life evolves through to the present form
With peace as dynamics of the living norm
And, we respond with time for the future
Blending the past and present with architecture,
Creating a multi dimensional time-space
Recording a new trace of living-art in place!
Crazy mind may crack a concept weird and wild
Or it may be just reinventing a far off child,
Oceans apart, bridging a long gap
For, in architecture, ideas are no scrap!
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
We say that the husk sells...
We say that husk fetches a higher price
Than the valuable fine grains of rice
Only if a greater role the power of words assume
To confer the husk a better resume!
A curriculum vitae, no doubt, has to speak
And way above others rendering them weak;
Remember all roses are colorfully bright
But the perfumed nectar is the bee’s delight!
Mentioning education, experiences and all that
With takeaways from a previous CV format
To suit new requirements isn’t enough I feel
To ranking a candidate for the required skill!
On a positive note, it’s a matter of communication,
Whereby, a resume is not just a formality or a fashion;
Hope never ends to carry out a project of your choice,
And, the more one works, it could still be, less a voice!
Well, there is a so-called portfolio for architects
As preferences for details vary in many aspects;
Meantime, I have discarded doing my resume long ago,
Spending some time on it could fetch a project though!
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Where do we keep our shoes?
The shoes, all over, make the main door messy
Strewn around, the space is not so dressy;
We walk over to get into a posh apartment
But the entrance speaks of a shoe department!
Another problem is of not finding the shoes,
The pairs are displaced adding to our woes;
So, how do we go about for a tidy living
Or, a small niche at the beginning?
A very few apartments have the shoe spaces,
Right behind the main doors are such places
A rack where one can also hang the keys
Just a small space to be at ease!
Helmets, umbrellas could also go in there
Organizing the space means time to spare;
But what if house plans do not confirm that way
We may still, with interiors, play!
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Importance of being at site
A feasibility report, if it exists, isn’t enough, I feel;
So, a site visit is a must for more issues to peel!
Experience, first hand, the topography of the land
And get to the bottom from the sun to specks of sand!
The contours could be too tricky,
The weather there could also be freaky;
The hills around and the sky dictate as many terms
As the access at the turning could spoil the norms!
Lo! The electric poles are running across the site,
Water source is miles away for a budget plight;
Consider the rain water, even sewer and household waste;
Well, what matters is a design unique, not a copy-paste!
Meanwhile, we may add to the culture of the place
With materials that would contribute to architectural grace;
Skills available around are worth recommending
All for designs that could be wholesomely blending!
Ultimately, there are issues of timelines and cost;
Issues unaddressed at the start bounce back the most
Even the market around holds the project key
Smooth functioning of the works, a must to foresee!
Friday, December 31, 2021
Happy New Year 2022
Tonight, we are putting ourselves into a new year
And we shall move forward with all things dear;
Happy New Year 2022 and a happiest weekend
And may your aspirations continue to ascend!
Time spent cannot be retrieved as it’s the past
While the present has, truly, a split-second to last;
The future approaches with each regular tick
With the time’s click as it is encroached in a flick!
If time could be stored, where and how could it be?
Best in the mediums of art and history!
It is only in the many forms of the past
Where we delve ourselves for the times vast!
Time speaks and it is loud and clear
Of palaces of love, hate, peace and fear;
Layers of times are embedded to influence us
And the future is what we build despite all the fuss!
We transform with time
Along with things odd or even, unruly or sublime,
The clouds above, the waters in the seas,
The humming birds, butterflies, the buzzing bees…
Once again, Happy New Year twenty twenty-two
And may it bring out the best of best in you!
The world means the past, present and future to cherish
And may the year ahead, like none other, flourish!
!
Thursday, December 9, 2021
Holy and organic
My childhood spent about five decades ago
At my parents’ place then; how did the house show?
We lived in a house of stone walls, gaps mud-fed,
Mud plastered, and mud-painted: half white and half red
The floor, too, was mud and cow-dung coated,
Wall edges at floors were with red mud, mud-red!
White lime was obtained from around the rivulet far-flung;
A hut-house perfect on a hilltop but never ever sung!
A type of grass covered the house for roofing,
Ignored stood the dampness and termite-proofing,
No glass then, no imported material,
No good workmanship as well and everything surreal
There were no house drains
And yet it wasn’t a problem in times of rains
As most of the storm-waters percolated into the ground
Or trickled down on the slopes to the streams around!
The plastic and cement used therein were none or scanty
While availability of bamboo and timber were a plenty;
It was a “giving-back” to the mother earth in the state that we took
And a way forward to keep her organic in essence and outlook!
Friday, November 12, 2021
First interaction with a client…
First interaction with client is a listening exercise
And getting into his likes and dreams precise;
Sketchy images are out from both the sides
And a relationship works out in multiple strides!
Past is revisited to work out on the present need,
Deadlines are frozen and all is fixed for the deed;
The present gives way to the unpredictable future
As lives connect to art and science of architecture!
The absurd mind gives way to abstraction
Knitting closer the essence of time in each fraction
Of a fraction-second till all barriers are removed
And, with clarity of a crystal, a picture is approved!
Well, the colors of his choice have spoken his mind
While materials did offset his roots not too far behind;
What matters a lot is the movement ahead
And taking care of the past in times of sun and shade!
Years later, the first interactions are cherished
As living in those dwellings have flourished;
Sketchy dreams were then imprisoned in the twilight gages
That shall now remain through my life’s holy pages!
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Glass: Handle with Care
A see-through was long ago crafted
As blueprint for the future of glass was drafted;
We are one with Nature as if out in the open;
Opacity in built forms too is broken!
Reflections, refractions, heat and insulation,
Matted or glossy with or without undulations;
Tempered, tinted, plain and frosted;
Sheets of glass never seem to be exhausted!
The weather can still be kept at bay,
As glass filters in the warmth and lights for sweet stay;
Even in the deepest parts of our houses
We can bask or relax with sunrays on our couches!
Handle with care, the glass speaks to us
But we can walk on types of it without a fuss
It has the strength that we desire,
And for our buildings, it is part of robust attire!
Sunday, October 17, 2021
Some are squares...
Some are squares with right angles,
Some circular, some triangles;
Facing directions wide and high
Many sides for accesses apply
Rules must govern the use,
From larger ones, each site is a reduce;
Some for private living, some for malls of shops
Some left blank like flat rooftops
Where stories develop, there are plots
Where fallow are the vacant slots;
Across landscapes, each one uniquely stands
And for a lofty sum, a land changes hands!
A development for peace and progress
Where building a future shouldn’t be a mess
For generations of human habitat
And for humanity to look at!
Spaces of glamorous forms for many smiles
Stand the test of time stretching miles;
Well, I am standing now on one empty site,
A speck on earth for a commercial bite!
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Delight of Light
The glow-worms had hidden after the night
And I was awake before the first flash of light;
I was waiting for the new day’s new sight
With objects, revealing around me, in delight!
And, as the sun brighter began to enter
Through windows with the rays slanting off-center,
It was directed by glass or edited by a curtain
Filtered through to claim a space for certain!
At times an ephemeral art of dimmers in shades,
At other times, a bright patch that sooner fades;
What is so great in light and darkness?
A life sparkles due to both, I guess!
A ray white means the seven colours hidden,
An unscattered pure for the rainbow obsessed or smitten
With bright, light, dark of all hues and shades
As an art of architecture astounds the arcades!
A daylife enhanced or a nightlife dazzled,
Monuments lighted as eyes are consumed or guzzled;
Within moments, a whole landscape is sighted,
Glow-worms are no more enchanting in places lighted!
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
In the contours of my life...
In the contours of my life I moved ahead
Not exactly knowing how to pace each tread;
Heights are meant to be scaled with each rise
But, at times, falling back a bit isn’t a surprise!
The floors that I strolled gave me the strength
As I searched my soul in breadth and length;
The walls within me promised a living
Though the ceiling in-between limited my giving
The facades, with nature around, are soberly lost,
Beauty and elegance aren’t much the cost,
But, a number of days have been like prototypes;
Images same but different canvases and stripes
The roof, vast and high, took me into believing,
An entry door did all the welcoming;
A window led an enthusiast I to view beyond
While engagements lifted me from an idle pond
Often, I travelled many mezzanines and splits
With as many functions and each interest in bits;
Posts and supports spanned disciplines unfamiliar,
But, the contours ahead now appear cliffy and peculiar!
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Here goes my second dose
Here goes my pose
As I took my second dose!
This time, the moderna vaccine travels my veins
For immunity as euphoria mixes with fears and pains!
We shall witness, with vaccinations, a downward trend
In infection numbers to push the enemy to a dead-end
And it may, still, be a little early to nurture the best dreams
But I am hoping for a life ahead with yummy creams!
Hoping for glowing smiles expressed not just by the eyes,
Hoping for the best new normal as the virus subsides,
Hoping for friendly neighbors, not strangers to walk past,
Hoping for a free world again, without a curse, to forever last!
Hoping this's the final blow to the virus to exit soon,
Hoping, no human is taken for granted for a safety cocoon,
Hoping for excuses none, from the virus, after the second dose
And hoping for a future meaningful with a purpose!
Hope each person continues to inspire with resilience,
As immunity alone makes the biggest difference;
Hoping for no Covid traces, not even by remote chances
And hoping to see full faces and glamorous glances!
Bhutan is at her best again with choicest of vaccines,
The virus shall be defeated, with herd immunity, by all means;
My best wishes to all especially to the first-timers many,
For, the goal is to defeat the worst global enemy!
Sunday, June 13, 2021
With All My Senses
My eyes are wide open, ears eager to hear in haste,
My nose is ready for the smell and tongue for taste!
A touch on any issue, the mind becomes the gear
And if anything is bad, the heart moves forward to bear!
Senses do loom large and yet we feel sorry,
Perceptions vary: the very cause of our worry!
Opinions and options are no reasons for threat
Unless a vested interest, I have reasons to bet!
Senses do oscillate, vibrations occur to break
The soul and body for both are destined for a wreck;
Correct use of senses has always been with the good reasons
Follow what you are for, the future works on its own provisions!
Saturday, June 5, 2021
Old and Gold
"I was a master of all, nothing stayed low
As I matured to enhance my life's glow;
Now, I have risen and risen and grown old
Final home-going is my way forward, I am told
Wrinkles are witness to my fight for resilence
My performance is low; all around me is just penance;
My ears are deaf, eyes are blue and hazy,
Voice is low, mouth toothless and I feel a lot lazy
I need support as I walk
A helper to explain as I talk
A pillow to keep straight my back
And, truly, home-going is what I lack
I have heard enough of old being gold
But old isn't always gold and gold is never old
Gold can be moulded new but old is never a younger bold
As my home-going is eminent, rest I need not be told!"
But a few words, unconciously said, of wisdom
From deep within an exhaustion
Lies a towering soft power of an advice
Divine to clarify Old is Gold as strong, forever, as an edifice!
Friday, June 4, 2021
Roadside Romeo
I waited along the route
To catch a glimspe of you
Now all I can sadly say
I’ve wasted another day!
Restless evening passed me by
Darkness covered earth and sky
I wish that I could fight
This fast encroaching night
And bring back some daylight
Just so that I can see you
And make my dreams come true
(Phanindra Khanal)
A short poem published in Kuensel in 1999
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Architecture and Poetry
I delve from line to line
For a structure with a strong spine
While a space white gives way to letters dark
With dimensions and metre making a mark!
Poetry and architecture correlate in creativity
From issues all to homes in a city;
There is rhythm and music in standstill and motion,
Approach is same, difference not even in notion!
I delve deeper to fill lines with material
Or engage to bring out the unexplained surreal
Underlined in metaphors, broken in grammar
Waiting editions with a roughest hammer!
And here I stand gazing at the surrounding
As sky and ground are the bases for new space founding;
Buildings create lines as well, that too standing in rhyme
And for some more of it, it’s just a matter of time!
Sunday, May 9, 2021
हिउ पर्यो
हिउ पर्यो है कान्छी
रमितै भयो थिम्फू सहर।
सूर्यको किरण धर्तीमा चमक्दा
जउला है खेल्न वरपर।।
तीन फिटको हिउमा पाखुरा डुब्दा
हाँसी दिंउला है कान्छी मरी मरी।
धराब हाँगामा अल्झेको हिउले
बर्साई दिंउला है तिमीलाई घरिघरि।।
चिप्लो बाटोमा मलाई समाए
धसिदिंउला है हिउ जिउ भरी
ऐया, आच्छी तिमीलाई भए
भनी दिंउला है नि लै लै कठैबरी!!
-फणीन्द्र खनाल
Friday, April 30, 2021
A Street Dweller
His passion, truly, is to own the city wild
Unbothered; a matured man from a long lost child!
With tattered bags of belongings, weather battered face,
Street his home and every nook and corner his place!
Durpinay, as he is called, knows not his real name
Over the years, he has always remained the same!
His lens perhaps shows just a monochrome
Where the world he roams is all his home!
My first contact with him was in my early years;
He pulled many ears causing kids to shed rivers of tears!
He fakes a telescope, with fingers, pointed towards a hill
And hence his name ‘with durpin' that raises interest still!
I met him again a few years ago near the big cypress tree;
In capital Thimphu, the man was happier and full of glee!
He begs not as food and drinks is free onto his lap
And draws attention around without any gap!
A long stick he uses to ward off the stray dogs
His toilet is under the sky behind bushes and logs!
During a lockdown, he has been bundled into a van
Since then, I have heard nothing about the man!
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Dream of a Queen
A dream that came true for a pious mom,
The dream that the Enlightened One had arisen from,
A dream that Queen Maha Maya had while asleep
Is a dream deemed to be deep for humanity's upkeep!
It's a dream treasured as absolutely confirmatory,
A dream of a faithful for an everlasting glory,
A dream of the purest that makes peace with all beings
And a dream that cures the world of pains and sufferings
It’s a dream that gave us a way of life,
A dream of a mother that lays at rest the worldly strife,
A dream that landed us on the right track
And a dream that led secrets to crack!
It's a dream of a milk-white elephant, holy and grand
For peace and truth on every land;
It's the beginning of Wheel of Law high, complete and full
And ages of relationship with my beloved Druk Yul
This is the dream that seeks commonality
With no race, caste or creed but unity and secularity;
A dream of sacrifice and kindness
And a dream for no ignorance and wilful blindness
Photo Courtesy: Google
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