This article was recently published in the Journal of the Indian Institute of Architecture – a postscript to the disaster in Uttarakhand. To me, the disaster was more of a man-made calamity rather than a natural calamity.   We are gravely concerned with the kind of construction that is going on in the mountains. Not just dams, but roads and buildings without understanding the consequences or restoring the damages caused during the process. It is said that we think that Man is the most intelligent being on the planet – How many intelligent beings destroy their own habitat.

The landscape at Chhatra Sagar is a celebration of the natural heritage of this region, just like its tangible and intangible cultural heritage.  An ever-changing landscape and its unique aesthetics of the desert, where every drop of rain is precious and designed to hold moisture in the potent womb of the earth. One in which you might see wildlife grazing through the vast stretches of grasses or birds chirping near the ponds.

Chhatra Sagar, the vast blue oasis in the endless arid landscape of Pali, Rajasthan is a celebration of poetics of water and life. The long journey through the sparse thorny landscape begins to change to a diverse multi-layered rich landscape of Mewar, of its deep-rooted trees that draw water to the surface, plants that store it in their thick leaves and stems, and those that come and go each year with the arrival and departure of the rains.

Large shade canopies planted decades ago mark the threshold and the time to step out of the car into the arrival court bursting with grasses and shrubs. The steps ahead lead to the dam and the breathtaking view of the wetland and its unlimited horizon of wilderness waiting to be discovered through the many trails.

The walk from the steps to the cottage is through an understorey of fragrant grasses and plants, that will want to talk to you each time you step out of the cottage and will draw you deep inside into your inner silence much like the silence of stars in a moonlit night.