Tallulah D’Silva
It is bright and early as a small group of Back to Basics workshop participants drive across the Anmod Ghat to arrive at this quaint little village near Castlerock with no network. It’s like a blank canvas. The land, nascent orchard, abundance of streams, its forest edges and the calls of the jungle fowl and Malabar whistling thrush. Everybody settles down, explores, forages, collects firewood, sets up camp. All then immerse in the routine of mud building. A lot of time has been spent to understand the land, its topography, soil type and existing vegetation, to then locate a small structure at the highest point within the triangle of a few existing trees that the stingless bees love to buzz around. None use any devices but pencil and sketchbook to make a few drawings and ideas to conceptualize the spirit of the building. Working with circles as shapes for the spaces led to a beautiful design. The energies were super positive and everyone began exercises of making clay models playing with soil, dried grass and gravel. Finally when the footprint was frozen, a marking on ground was done and the work commenced. The artisanal team is similar to that found all across the country, in villages.
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They are local, always a mixed group of some elderly members, young adults and even a few teenagers joining in to observe and learn. There is no hierarchy but there is humility. They work in collaboration and compassion. The participants join in, to assist, carry material in the wheelbarrow and transfer pails or mortar or rammed earth mix. All participate wholeheartedly learning by doing. Formal education does not teach nor equip students to be trained to be responsive to local ecology, traditional practices in building and construction systems. The approach to work teams is also flawed because they are still perceived as ‘mazdoor’- labour. Not artisans, skilled in their art and professionals at their craft. The participants begin sampling with foundation masonry using the local granite stone, gravel and laterite rubble found along the stream edge in a small percentage. Then begins the sampling of soil from the land, with stabilizers as no cement is being used. Lime, jaggery and harda seeds are mixed to make the lime and soil mix even stronger. A little research, speaking to older members in the community and this oral knowledge helps to begin the trials.
Since only natural materials are used, the absence of cement brings in new and tangible results of the benefits and ease of working sans synthetic materials. Bees buzz around, dragon flies and butterflies attracted to the fermented jaggery and harda seeds keep wanting to sit on the arms and feet as all sweat in the sun. The smells all around are sweet and soothing. SWIPE RIGHT Tom Kane, voice behind Yoda and Professor Utonium, dies at 64 Pitbull with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte perform the 2014 FIFA World Cup anthem “We Are One” 2022 FIFA World Cup highlighted how World Cup songs now extend far beyond football fans, targeting massive streaming audiences and digital culture worldwide. “Regular pop songs can express different emotions depending on the theme. But a global sports anthem needs catchy choruses, crowd participation through chants, and an energetic dance rhythm,” said Waking Grunt, aka Amit Naik, rapper and musician. He adds that genres such as Latin pop and Afrobeat naturally fit the atmosphere of sporting events because of their rhythm and celebratory feel. “Music brings energy and emotion to fans cheering for their teams. Sports anthems need a ‘let’s dance and sing along’ appeal, which makes them different from regular pop songs,” he says. Social media has also changed everything.
A World Cup song today is expected to trend on TikTok, dominate YouTube, become a stadium chant and work as a global pop single all at once. Rochelle Lourdes Braganza, a singer, says, “Social media plays a huge role in making World Cup songs globally popular. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and X have helped songs spread instantly through dance trends, fan edits, reels, and match highlights. Any music, for that matter, is no longer just watched on television — it automatically turns into viral culture. A World Cup song becomes part of this online culture, and fan engagement helps these songs stay relevant long after the tournament ends.” The anthem is no longer just the soundtrack of football — it has become part of global pop culture itself. Tom Kane, who voiced Professor Utonium in ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ and Yoda in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars,’ has died. He was 64. Tom passed away following complications from a stroke he suffered in 2020. Earlier this year, Tom reunited with his OG ‘Powerpuff Girls’ co-stars Cathy Cavadini, EG Daily and Tara Strong, who paid tribute to him following the news of his death. “I’ve never in my life met a sweeter soul or a better human being,” Tara (who voiced Bubbles) wrote. Tom was the voice of Yoda in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ feature film and TV series and he voiced Professor Utonium and HIM in ‘The Powerpuff Girls,’ among many more voice performances over the years. He also voiced characters in popular video games, such as the ‘Call of Duty’ franchise. Tom is survived by his wife of 44 years, Cindy Roberts, and their nine children, three biological and six through adoption and fostering. Apple Martin to make her movie acting debut in Nancy Meyers’ new comedy Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s daughter, Apple Martin, is set to make her feature-film debut. The 22-year-old was announced to be joining the star-studded cast of Nancy Meyers’ upcoming comedy, which has been categorized as semi autobiographical in nature for the Parent Trap writer and director. The role marks Martin’s first since appearing in an episode of the HBO show ‘Rooster’.
She has previously worked as a model for brands like Chloé and Gap, and is currently celebrating her graduation from Vanderbilt University with a degree in law, history and society. While Martin previously had plans to go to law school, she said in February that she now wants to follow in her mom’s footsteps after getting out of her “rebellious ‘I don’t wanna be like my parents’ type of phase.” “I don’t wanna be a singer,” she said, despite noting that she does like to sing, like her Coldplay frontman dad. “I like musical theater, but getting onstage by yourself to sing is so terrifying.” Huma Qureshi stepped into an Oscar de la Renta gown that made her feel like a Greek sculpture at the Cannes Film Festival of profit making and using cement concrete or such modern materials that are detrimental to the environment and wellbeing. Everybody laughs, talks, jokes, teases. The energy is electric, there is warmth and a feeling of connectedness and rootedness. Everybody also familiarises themselves with the local vegetation and the orchard being nurtured. All chew on the flowers of the tooth ache plant which is a small shrub growing among the other wild flowers. All love the smells of the mug wort which is collected to put in the bath water. The pepper mint and basil is freshly plucked to garnish the sandwiches for breakfast.
The participants identify the cacao saplings, mulberry, passion fruit, breadfruit, white pepper, shikakai, lemon grass, ginger, cherries, etc. All learn so much about the wildscape as well as the local orchard species that enables all to understand better about the landscape of the region and adaptability of introduced species. So every time participants come to this place deep in the forested periphery of the Western Ghats and the Supa Dam all engage in the routine of working in groups helping to mark, measure, carry mixed mud for the rammed earth walls, assist in carrying mortar mixes and bricks for the domes and mud to fill and level. All work in the hot sun, take breaks to drink the stream water and gorge on slices of pineapple and watermelon, cook meals on firewood and then relax in the evenings as they watch the sunset and the night sky emerge with so many stars. For each these are life lessons to imbibe and pass on to the next generations.
To also spread the knowledge of traditional practices of mud building among artisans and construction teams so that ecological planning, land conservation and sustainable building becomes a more relevant practice than blindly copying modern day practices The benevolence of the land, its owners and the community of mud building has deeply influenced all. These Tambdi Maati Foundation-Camp and Build workshops in this remote land have given an opportunity to children, parents, students, young adults and professionals to experience the same. (Tallulah D’Silva is an architect and silver awardee of the Golden Door Award 2020 for truth and integrity.)
