Riya's Riyaaz

 Is being indifferent boring? D oes it seem rude?, when I say, "No longer do I care about human life". Humans forget that we are a part of a larger universe, so large that from far far away we are the size of atoms, invisible to the naked eye. We are fighting over issues of land, boundaries, resources and using war as means of power over our intellect. It is beyond me, what this human mind is capable of, beautiful and pure evil at the same it. For some context, I am thinking of Global Warming, of capitalist and communist countries, of people in Afghanistan and Palestine, of animals and sea creatures, of religion and science; of my own hypocrisy and tied down hands.  Is technology genderless? While I have always been asked  asserted the question, "tu toh ladki hai tuje thodi cricket k bare me pata hoga (You are a girl, you wouldn't know anything about sports)" or your brother being favored over you, for a software related question by your Uncle(not because he is...

Everyday I find myself spending "just a little more" time on Instagram. How that "little more" eats up a major lot of my day, is a mystery. This is true for many users across the globe. We are seduced by images one after another. Our mind is engulfed into Meme culture, Celebrity gossip, Tik-Tok videos, Instagram reels and new trends of the social media universe. We can not stop scrolling. There is always time for just one-more-post, or is there? How many things can you remember at one glance? As I come across more interesting people/pages on Instagram to follow, these days, I find it is hard to catch up with every event. By the time I have finished watching 30 Instagram stories, I can hardly remember whose story I saw first and for the matter, what was the content of it? How am I suppose to remember the content of 300 people that I follow? I am fortunate to have lived in the pre-mobile era because it provides me a strong base for an argument, a comparison between th...

Do you go back & read what you have written before? Is confrontation a sin? Does a person have the same handwriting forever? Do people really SEE your Instagram stories? Will social media be a thing in next 10 years? Do we overestimate ourselves? Is my voice heard? Do all women feel the way I do? Is family important? Shouldn't we question the institution of the family? Is it important for 40 or just 10 people to know and respond? Hum jo karte hain, uska kya matlab hai? (What is the meaning of what we do?) Is being opinionated a problem? Does that make me rude? Is self awareness not important?  - What am I eating, drinking, wearing? Where is it coming from? Does any one not care about what they give back to nature? -  What are my rights? Why did no one ask me to read the Indian constitution in school? Do people think THIS way? Am I a modernist under the false self claim of a contemporary? Am I a commie under the hood of a capitalist wanting to be a socialist? Am I a good pe...

The lockdown came with a surprise, dropping economy and lack of job opportunities and illness. I was in the same pool as fellow newly bud architect friends. Either quitting jobs or tired of them or still looking for one. If that weren't enough, it also brought a huge change.  Now in the 1 BHK house; where it seems Dad only came home for evening news and a good night's sleep; his presence became unavoidable. Suddenly the space in our 1 BHK fell short, accommodating two of dad's P.C. for WFH(work from home) in the living room, and welcoming his assistant everyday. His tiny office space pushed Maa and us siblings in the confines of our kitchen and bedroom. Privacy was always an issue. Indian parents have their own ways of intervening in your life whether you have your own room or not. I have found my ways around it, however how much stays private (let's not think on it).  I suppose the lockdown turned us all into chef's, if that's not an overstatement. There was no...

As I was going through my phone gallery, I noticed I have clicked pictures of admired the sky more, in the four months of lock down, than in the eight years that I have lived here.

Life is like a movie     ~ Rupali Gupte Life at SEA (School of Environment and Architecture) has been extraordinary. February 7th, '20 called for a celebration, as SEA would complete it's first five years, the first batch would graduate. The preparations for the five year event was undertone, we only realized the enormity of the event later. Jury, rather scholars were invited from around the world for the event, followed by a SEA city event on the next day. The event took place in Nehru Science Centre, designed by Achyut Kanvinde, adding metaphorical significance. A week before the event I received a phone call from Shreyank, they would like me to present student work, along with five other students. I was thrilled and nervous at the same time. Us students, with Shreyank and Rohit spent hours preparing for the day. While the last day of school(in April), did not feel as the end, the anticipation of the event was a reminder that we were closer to ...

To appreciate the good, you must witness the bad - Riya Parekh You might search on the internet 'must watch coming of age movies' and your feed will be flooded with suitable searches. I will not get into describing the narratives of each of the movies mentioned below. Unlike many websites, blogs, pages, etc, I will not give a detailed review of these movies. For, I believe, one must watch a movie, to really enjoy it.  In obvious ways this is my archive, that I can add to overtime and re-visit in future to freshen my memory. I have been a movie nerd for a long time now. This passion began with attending the film club at SEA every Friday. Unlike most of my friends, I have not grown up watching Bollywood movies and I take pride in saying that I have been successful in filtering the good ones out of the lot. By no means am I cynical towards the Hindi cinema, since I know they have produced some gems, that for many reasons have been behind the clouds. Anyway, that is a topic...

In these trying times, I wish we have the strength to be only human.  -Riya Parekh

Yesterday was the last day of the Annual week at school, the Annual Day. After all the groups had presented their respective electives we departed for lunch break only to come together for a class photograph. I came across a few old photographs from my first year at SEA and decided to send a group photo that we took in the first year of school. Someone came up with the idea to recreate it. After a long time of setting up the camera and taking class photo, the way we used to in primary school, we were pumped to recreate the "original" version. Our mouth ached by the constant smile we put up for the camera. Sitanshu sent a before-after picture on our Whatsapp group. Shrushti came up with a #5yearschallengeatSEA (foreseeing the 10 year challenge that has been going on, on Instagram). Instantly, my Instagram was flooded by the picture & hashtag. Meanwhile, the other batches took their turns for class photographs. Later we all came together on the school ground for a group ph...