| NK |
Posted
on 28-Sep-01 03:48 PM
It definitely feels like Friday. I am listening to Kathleen Battle. Johann Sebastian Bach. Beautiful. Litsten to her sometimes when you feel like being “cultured.” All my deadlines are met and I am heaving a breath of relieved sigh. I have only two hand a half hour to go. To tell you the truth I really felt like “dishing” somebody then I remembered ‘oh no, the IP will be shown!’ Darn San. What did I do to you have this wrath befallen onto me and my fellow disher? Just one request. Could you please do something to the guy who claims with utmost pride he writes in his own name but nevertheless he appears very offensive? Is there any ‘upaya’ for someone like this? Oh well, we cannot have a perfect world, I guess.
Now New York. I cannot seem to get this place out of my mind. The other day I was listening to radio (you know being a culture person that I am, I abhor TV. I read and read massive number of books and newspaper whenever I can) and the host was talking about rebuilding New York, the ground zero. What to do with that space? That has been the subject of numerous articles in the newspaper, radio call in program etc. I also could not help thinking. What indeed should go there? Another massive elongated structure? A Garden with the names of the victims in every stone? A park? You know how Americans are fan of theme parks? But I don’t think that is appropriate, just as another 100+ floor sky scrapper. In the 60s and 70s when you wanted to tell the world you are important you build sky scrappers like they did in New York. Like they are doing in Kula Lampur. I think this is also innate in the western culture to reach the sky. Look at their Cathedral, their church. It is always going up and up. When you have the technology, then of course nobody can stop you from building something like the now gone Twin-Tower. I have heard and read how architecturally it does not make sense to go above 50, 60 story. Compare with our temple, Masjid, and Jewish temple. They are spread horizontally. To me it gives the sense being more closer to the ground, firmly planted on the ground, it is more organic.
The real state price of New York will demand they put another multi story office building that can house as many people as possible. But is that wise? A lot of people suggested, but to no avail, that they leave the skeleton of the sky scrapper as a testimony to the atrocities that thousands of people endured. I had liked that idea. Like the half torn cathedral in Berlin (the name I forgot now), or the fort in Heidelberg, they should have left at least a part of that. But the US is a country that looks forward. Always inventing, marching ahead. There is virtue and vice in that. It is good to look backward sometimes, don’t you think? Then it might not repeat the past mistake.
So what is it going to be? I think there should be a museum. Have Gerry design it. Or whoever competent. What do y’all think? Alas, I would rather be pointing out the inconsistency of thoughts of some individual or talking about my days in Stanford but I have to restrain myself from now on.
Have a good week end folks.
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