My passion for the urban- it was probably always there, hidden somewhere in the recesses of my mind. But my conscious self stumbled upon it during my long introspection phase while working in a beverage MNC.
Okay, my background first - I am a Chemical Engineer from one of India's premier Engineering Institutes, which unfortunately is in a Godforsaken place. My love for social sciences was more than visible ever since my school days, but fate pushed me into engineering (and believe me, that is one heck of story; but I shall reserve it for another day, and another post). I landed a rather plush job in an beverage major and was doing rather well there. But I did not want to resign to fate and accept what i was doing; start loving it because I was in it. I wanted to do what I loved; what I was passionate about; what I could eat, sleep and breathe.
So I had this long introspection phase, wherein I toyed with a lot of ideas for a career change. A cousin of mine-my confidant for career blues- helped me think by gifting me a bagful of books to read. Her not-so-hidden agenda was to get me to write; and to study literature. But then I chanced upon and miraculously got into Masters' in Habitat Policy and Practice at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, a premier social sciences institute. This is an inter-disciplinary course on Urban Development Policy in the Indian context. I enjoyed my course thoroughly, but I still would not say I had realized my passion for it.
And then it happened. My first semester had ended and I was going home. I had taken a flight departing from Mumbai at 11 p.m. And there, I saw, a sight that was nothing short of divine. The city by night. An aerial view of the urban form, lined by a million tiny lights. And it was love at first sight for me. I realized I had an epiphany at that moment; I almost felt like the Buddha under the Bodhi tree.
The moment had dawned. I felt I had made the right choice. And I had fallen in love with everything urban.
So about the blog - I shall write about anything and everything urban. Cities are where the present is, cities are where our future lies. And for a happier future, we strive for happier cities. and that's what I am going to post about.
Okay, my background first - I am a Chemical Engineer from one of India's premier Engineering Institutes, which unfortunately is in a Godforsaken place. My love for social sciences was more than visible ever since my school days, but fate pushed me into engineering (and believe me, that is one heck of story; but I shall reserve it for another day, and another post). I landed a rather plush job in an beverage major and was doing rather well there. But I did not want to resign to fate and accept what i was doing; start loving it because I was in it. I wanted to do what I loved; what I was passionate about; what I could eat, sleep and breathe.
So I had this long introspection phase, wherein I toyed with a lot of ideas for a career change. A cousin of mine-my confidant for career blues- helped me think by gifting me a bagful of books to read. Her not-so-hidden agenda was to get me to write; and to study literature. But then I chanced upon and miraculously got into Masters' in Habitat Policy and Practice at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, a premier social sciences institute. This is an inter-disciplinary course on Urban Development Policy in the Indian context. I enjoyed my course thoroughly, but I still would not say I had realized my passion for it.
And then it happened. My first semester had ended and I was going home. I had taken a flight departing from Mumbai at 11 p.m. And there, I saw, a sight that was nothing short of divine. The city by night. An aerial view of the urban form, lined by a million tiny lights. And it was love at first sight for me. I realized I had an epiphany at that moment; I almost felt like the Buddha under the Bodhi tree.
The moment had dawned. I felt I had made the right choice. And I had fallen in love with everything urban.
So about the blog - I shall write about anything and everything urban. Cities are where the present is, cities are where our future lies. And for a happier future, we strive for happier cities. and that's what I am going to post about.
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