'Instructions to an Architect', a poem by Salil Chaturvedi triggered off a series of stirring images. To me, his instructions seek to magically blend the vernacular and modern style of building to preserve what’s most sacred: our connection with nature. Following these seminal instructions would result in the most soulful cities!

Instructions to an architect

my contexts are splintered
so should my house be

it should strain to come together

              like me

it should be aware of the journey

of the sun      reminding

me of it through moving ovals

and circles of light

it should hold every squirrel

and bird-call that enters

      and treat them

like the precious gems they are

it should sometimes be hard to tell

                    whether you are inside or outside

no materials made in laboratories please

            it should have the same sacredness

that I found as a child in

             accidentally discovered nests

it should not last much longer

      than I do.

- Salil Chaturvedi
(from his collection titled: In The Sanctuary of a Poem)

The artwork was displayed in the exhibition: Panjim 175, a part of the Serendipity Art Festival, 2018