No item numbers please! And no carbon copies either! Surely we deserve something original

Recently citizens of Hyderabad have been given overdose of new projects being launched. The secretariat to be shifted to the new location by demolishing an old, but beautiful building. Newspapers are full of some images of spaceship type new proposed designs for Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad, and we just hope it is not the chosen final one. And the Greek or Roman Palace like structure for the proposed Kala Bharathi at NTR Stadium, staring and asking us don’t we want to grow up?

It is indeed a good initiative by the government of the day, especially when it come to creating some infrastructure for the public good. Ravindra Bharathi has played a very important role in the growth of cultural and social life of Hyderabad. Many old timers have some strong views about it being demolished and recreated. No doubt that the present auditorium has outlived its utility and needs urgent restructuring in terms of newer seating arrangements, newer and better sound systems and bigger and improved parking, but this needs to be done with sensitivity towards emotional, creative and intellectual aspirations of the very people, whom it is going to serve.

One thing that stands out and is worth appreciating is the fact the Government is talking to an Indian architect and not to a foreign one unlike our neighbouring state. Having created masterpieces like the Tajmahal and the Brihadeeshwara temple in Tanjavur, and more recently having reached to Mars on our own, we Indians have demonstrated our creative excellence, technological expertise and development capabilities to be at par with the world’s best. It is an important statement that is being made here and an important factor in today’s time when we are promoting making in India, it should also be done by Indians. Lets us not repeat mistakes of the past of and also leave no room for any uncreative and repetitive work.

Having made these observations, it is now time to focus on the solutions that have been put forward, which are not only bizarre and unceremoniously outrageous, they lack sensitivity towards location, function and context of the city where it is going to be built. On top of that, the designs do not even appear to be original. While one looks like a copy of the Infosys Building in Mysore by the same architect, the other appears to be an attempt to proclaim itself to having arrived and wanting to be noticed, just like the item numbers in recent Bollywood movies. The city of Hyderabad, which has a strong tradition of qutub shahi architecture, in the form of Charminar, Qutub Shahi Tombs, Pygah Tombs and numerous palaces, surely it deserves a better deal.