Out) Nneka Ejere (Last: 7) – Nneka is here because she was the squeaky wheel slowing Vesi down in challenges. Let’s look at how all of these more subtle moves have shaken up my power rankings. With several idols now in play and certain players playing themselves into intriguing positions, this episode set up the dominoes for an exciting game before we even get to the merge. In that same DDA flat, for instance, the woodwork done by a pair of very humble carpenters – who eventually went off to the Gulf because of better remuneration – still endures with nary a warp.Survivor season 43 week 3 is in the books.Ĭompared to the first few episodes, this one was a little on the slow side, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t get big strategic implications for the future. Or was it that back in the old days, the consequences of poor work were far more onerous, so there was a greater incentive to produce good quality work? Even a few decades ago, DDA-type insouciance about poor quality was more the exception than the rule. What makes so many Indians oblivious to crookedness – in buildings, paintings or indeed everyday life? There is clearly no pride in jobs done honestly and well. Minute precision and intense attention to detail were obviously non-negotiable back then. So, are our ugly and poorly-made buildings and badly aligned roads proof that we have not descended from the people who made the great cities of the Indus-Saraswati Civilisations 7,000 years ago, that too without the benefit of modern technology? A single DDA-type slanted wall back then would have meant that some of the greatest examples of world architecture – not merely the Taj Mahal but also magnificent ancient temples and forts – would not have been around today to amaze us. India’s architectural heritage stands in stark contrast to today’s deplorable constructions. And, importantly, constructions stood the test of time – unless they were deliberately made of lac or wood, of course. Crookedness has not been the defining leitmotif of India in the past, although the great epics certainly chronicle incidents of sharp practices – in construction as well as morality.īy and large, good triumphed over evil.
#Slapdash mom plus#
Two recent forays into repair and renovations – one in Calcutta and the other in Delhi – have made me realise the veracity of that old adage “plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose” – the more things change, the more they remain the same.Ĭrooked doorframes and eaves, substandard plastering et al, are still the norm. He could just as well have been commenting on modern Indian ethics – and constructions – too. He offered this comment after listening to my oft-repeated plaint about paintings invariably left hanging crookedly on walls. “Straight lines are not an important for Indians,” said a particularly acerbic observer of society recently. It would seem that Indians are by nature prone to cutting corners to squeeze out that extra buck, never mind the consequences. Sadly, this shoddy ethos persists even today in most construction companies, public and private, with current complaints against “builder” flats almost echoing my mother’s DDA woes of decades past.
#Slapdash mom professional#
Taking professional pride in their work was clearly not important. It is unlikely, though, that the DDA felt any twinge of embarrassment about this slapdash remedy. The walls were remedied by applying extra layers of cement and plaster to correct the alignment, which led to chunks falling off for years afterwards, due to their own weight. My mother was so dumbfounded that she offered no further remonstrations she just did what many Indians still do- call up someone important to intervene. But the DDA official’s reaction to my mother’s protest was memorable: “The walls are not “tedha” (askew) madam, you just have a very artistic eye so you see them at an angle…”
It was just plain substandard construction. It was not a fancy architectural feature or a cunning way to utilise space to the maximum. Over 30 years ago, when taking possession of a “self-financing” apartment constructed by the Delhi Development Authority, my mother pointed out that almost all the walls did not meet at right angles.
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