N. Raghuraman’s column – Surroundings can inspire a collective perception of beauty | एन. रघुरामन का कॉलम: आसपास का परिवेश सुंदरता की सामूहिक धारणा को प्रेरित कर सकता है

N. Raghuraman, Management Guru

This Saturday, after finishing work, I was in the car on Marine Drive in Mumbai, when an email came from a reader of Dainik Bhaskar. Because of the subject matter of that letter, it was a bit unusual.

It was written in it, ‘With a beard, a person not only looks unattractive but also appears cruel and uncivilized. The beard trend has not only increased but has also spread like an epidemic. Whoever you see is roaming around with a beard, the beauty and innocence of a clean shaven person has disappeared. Clean shaven decent looking faces are an exception.

Sir, how will the young generation of India get rid of beard problem?’ I smiled after reading the letter, took a peek from the car and realized that Marine Drive is the only place in the concrete jungle of Mumbai, where people are famous for giving a pleasant feeling. Queen’s necklace.

That’s because there is a uniformity among the buildings along that long road, these buildings facing the Arabian Sea have almost the same height. For this reason she looks like a clean shaven person. It gives a different beauty to the skyline of the Arabian Sea.

The buildings on Marine Drive are known as the Art Deco style of architecture, although they are not very fine examples of it. But as a group they create such an impact that they contribute greatly to the beauty of Marine Drive.

While I was admiring this beauty, figures from the reality industry came to my mind, which showed how 3.5 crore NRIs spread across many countries of the world are investing a major part of their savings in real estate in India.

Interestingly, in the last financial year they made a record remittance of $ 107 billion, much more than the pre-pandemic level of $ 83 billion. Although there is no clear data, but industry experts claim that crores of remittances are being invested in flats and villas and NRIs constitute 15% of the houses in most of the new projects.

This made me wonder that despite their huge numbers, why don’t they force our builders to come together and provide spatial quality, where the aim is to have all the infrastructure look like a picture, have contextual suitability, as well as aesthetics? I also look good and the buildings come to life.

It does not matter that a lot of buildings belong to a different colony. But if it looks similar like Marine Drive, it will add a different beauty to that city. But unfortunately housing is seen as an investment and not as a home where one lives a long life and also contributes to the beauty of the environment.

A builder I know said, ‘It seems these days architects are designing fewer buildings while builders are building more houses and setting up new colonies. Buildings and roads are very important for the future of any city because builders, municipality and we elders leave them for the next generation.

If we don’t focus on the collective perception of beauty, the next generation won’t love homes.’ He argued, ‘The purpose of construction comes in the form of the idea of ​​increasing wealth, whereas the artistic interest in beautifying the city requires moral principles. But unfortunately beauty succumbs to economic power.

Although there are no set rules for assessing aesthetics, the city’s local bodies should come up with rules similar to the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee’s proposed guidelines for the redevelopment of Marine Drive. The committee fixed the maximum height of buildings, uniform paint color on external walls and said that balconies cannot be closed, so that the skyline is preserved.

the fund is this That it is not enough to just leave the property to the next generation, but it should be beautiful enough that our children will enjoy living in it and not just use it as a reserve cash!