Temple Errotica
Errotica in Hindu Temple Sculptures:

Mr. Dileep D'Souza is the nth person to have made the kind of comments that he has about the errotica in temple sculptures.

In making any value judgements one has to critically examine any issue in its proper perspective and context and most important, the "times". There are many like him who indulge in such
writings without understanding these issues. I have always given the following example and will do so again.

In many Bengali traditional marriages, at the time when the bride and bridegroom garland each other as the final ceremonial act, the bride sits on a wooden flat seat and is lifted up by her maternal uncles so she is at "level" with the groom to be able to garland him. It is a custom that started probably in the 19th century, because at that time there used to be a considerable difference in the ages of the two, the bride being much younger and therefore much shorter in height than the groom. A greater disparity in the sex ratio -around 880 men to 1000 women- also contributed to the age difference between the groom and the bride. It was below the dignity of the groom to bend down infront of his wife to receive the garland.!

Though times and circumstances have changed, even today we find the custom being followed. Hence these days one may laugh heartily at the spectacle of a heafty 25 year old bride being lifted sitting on the plank!. Therefore one has to study the sociological aspects and history to undersatnd the genesis of the custom though blindly followed now.

But it is futile to expect such understanding from those whose thinking is permanently tainted by a anti Hindu bias!

Posted on 20-APR-03

Rural Development Strategy
A recent news mentioned the regulations framed bythe governmentof Brazil to encourage production of Bio-Diesel as a rural development strategy

Producing desirable additives for Disel has presumably twofold objectives. First is to reduce pollution from vehicular emmission and second to encourage rural development. Encouraging farming of plants/trees from which the additive can be extracted may not necessarily lead to rural development. If such plantations are taken up on a large scale by corporate sector with maximum automation and mechanization, the small grower will either sieze to exist or will be exploited by the corporates. For genuine rural development to take place, the small plantation owners will have to be encouraged with easy access to instutional finance, assured prices for the produce, made a stake holder in the marketing and above all manufacture of the final product. Only then can the benefits filter down to the small grower, adding to his wealth and income and leading to greater purchasing power and consiquent rural development. Otherwise he will continue to be at the mercy of the village moneylender, the “Agent” buyer of his produceand exposed to the vagaries of the global market for the final product over which he has little or no control. The sad plight of the small cane grower in some of the states of India, totally ruined and driven to suicide due to fluctuating domestic and international prices of sugar and export-import policies of national government is a testimony to this scenario.

It is not only the small grower or farmer but also the small artizan who needs to be protected and encouraged to achieve all round rural development. Produce for which “local” market can be created, need to be identified. In a country like India which has an excellent transportation network of roads and railways connecting almost every village in the country ( rural population in India still forms over 70% of the total) products that can cater to the 'transient' population (containers for beverages like milk,tea,cofee, fast food items) if manufactured locally by home based artisans will add substantially to the local income and the village economy. It can, to a large extent dilute the “Push” factor responsible for the migration of rural worker to the urban centres. A welcome beginning was made in India by the Railways to ban the use of styrofoam containers for hot beverages and use the locally made small earthern pots which are also environment friendly being bio-degradable. Unfortunately the initiative did not retain its initial steam.

Any rural development strategy must centre on local produce and skills and encourage self sufficiency in villages. Despite much maligning and ridicule the philosophy of the great Mahatma Gandhi of treating village as the focal point for any national development strategy is the only way for true development in the third world countries.

Prakash M Apte

Cities of Stone

A recent exhibition in Venice,Italy by Prof.Cladius D'Amato made a plea for revival of stone in Architecture in the cities of Europe and build cities of stone!

Almost all over the world, naturally occuring materials like stone, clay,timber, hay,bamboo were used for building activity. These were then easily and locally available, cheap and plentiful, environment friendly and climatically appropriate. But their use was labour intensive and had limitations due to the inherent quality of the materials. Rapid urbanization, need for low cost mass housing and greater awareness for human environment degradation due to indiscriminate use of natural resources led to a search for new manmade building materials.

In India, arid states like Rajasthan used stone extensively for walls, roofs, floors, beams, door and window frames. The internationally wellknown city of Jaisalmer is a good example. Clay was used for walls, roof insulation in other states in aluvial delta regions. By and large, depletion of the natural resource like stone and the possible environmental degradation likely to occur due to its extensive quarrying led to a search and use of alternative manmade materials like cement concrete.

Reinventing use of stone is just a gimmic. Romanticism in Architecture is for the Academics and those who can afford it, financially, physically, and glamorize it as a fashion like in dress design! For the poor; low cost, quick results and cheap availability will remain a deciding factor in the selection of building materials. In a rapidly globalizing economy, labour and transportation costs, speed and ease of construction, flexibilitity in provision of utilities and spiralling urban land costs- requiring greater carpet area per unit of built area- will be the determinants of building material use. Cities of stone can be only for the rich. The middle class may have to do with “immitation” manmade stone for their cities!

Prakash M Apte

World Trade Center

The diabolic destruction of the Twin Towers in New York was an act as despicable as brazen. It was meant to be as much an affront as abuse. It sought to humiliate a great people and a great democracy into permanent shame.
Retaining the footprints of the towers as a ?memorial? and building a new Tower as a replacement would be more of a tacit and ?permanent? admission of the victory of the ?evil? over the ?good? than displaying a spirit of rejuvenation.
Architectural merits apart, the only definitive and forceful statement that a nation can make is to rebuild the Twin Towers exactly as they were and ensure that the cityscape and skyline of the great city is regenerated as if there was no aberration. A great people and a great democracy must demonstrate its undying character in ?immortality? of the symbols of its national ethos and not appear to be morally weaker than the forces of terrorism by grasping the opportunity for a new commercial exploitation of land and an Architectural commission.

Prakash M Apte