Structure of Success by Tarini Bakshi

The now iconic Hands installation 

During the British era, Indian competency and inventiveness was in a deplorable state as it was looked upon with suspicion and was highly despised. After they relinquished their command, India was left to tumble in the slough of despond characterised by lack of dynamism and self esteem. However today we claim India to be ‘dynamic’ and ‘self confident’. But if we look closely we see India veering blindly without any constraint towards total globalisation and westernisation.

In today s era of open economic borders, there is a sense of ‘dependency’ that we seem to possess. The Indian mentality somehow remains convinced and complacent about the fact that we are incapable of producing anything of real value without foreign dilution. The swanky new terminal 3 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport cited as the 8^th largest in the world, comes loaded with enthralling characteristics. However behind its entire mind –boggling details lies an important fact that Terminal 3 is not wholly an Indian brainchild. The terminal 3 though built in Delhi was designed by American architects and managed by MGF, a Dubai based consortium. It uses tempered glass, a steel frame and aluminium cladding-all shipped from abroad. The Terminal 3 is definitely world class as it is built and conceived by literally the whole world.

The whole country is in awe of the various spectacular venues of the Commonwealth games. However they reveal a similar story. The enrapturing indoor stadium for badminton and squash has been designed by a renowned Australian architecture firm-Peddlethorp. The designs for Thyagraj stadium, the rugby sevens venue at Delhi University and the Yamuna sports complex are conceptualised by Peddlethorp as well. The JNU stadium has been given a facelift by a German engineering firm –Schlaich Bergermann and Partners. India proudly boasts of metro connectivity in its capital city, however, each coach of the metro has been imported from South Korea.

All new projects that aim to adorn Indian image and set new international standards are a manifestation of the aforementioned point of dependency. The Commonwealth games stadiums, the metro, Terminal 3- do depict India’s best architectural foot and are stunning examples of contemporary architectural vocabulary, however they remain diluted as they are results of foreign implants. The only question that remains unanswered is –where is the home-grown talent, Indian wisdom and pride?