We have been observing for quite a few years that every class is segregated in groups that are also portrayed in every coming-of-age movie you have ever seen. Does seem a little cliché but it is the truth. Along with this, there is a stereotype in every class like the loner, the star student, the teacher’s pet, the clown, the nerd. However, in any architecture and design college, one will definitely always find subtypes such as the borrower, the night owl, the slacker or the concept-master.
The funniest and snide comments I am proud of were often blurted out by me in college. It was like college bought out the best and worst in me whether it was in terms of creativity or in terms of comebacks. The external jury was just a few days away and it was a rather normal and boring Monday. Mondays and Fridays were usually for design studios so we could work during the weekend and during the weekdays. It was as stressful as it sounds if you ask me or any of my classmates. But well, architecture school is all about that and large amounts of coffee and energy drinks consumed on a daily basis.
Dark circles around the eyes, a huge tumbler of coffee in one hand and a heavy folio in the other filled with sheets, this was the scenario pretty much every single day. Arjun walked in, like always, trying to show off the amount of work he had done with 50 sheets pinned to the board all ready to present. All process models aligned on the desk, all notes and reports ready. Arjun was just one of those rich brats who had everything he ever needed and wanted. The kind of person who would never get tired of showing others a new pair of shoes he bought every other week or some new sketching material imported from Germany.
That day was indeed more stressful since it was our internal jury. A bunch of us were already panicking about setting up our work on time before the professors arrived. We all know how stressful the design module can be. Unpacking and packing all the models, sheets and tracings take up more time than our presentation itself. All we wanted was the crit session to be finally over so we could start preparing for the final external jury. Arjun, on the other hand, was waiting for someone to approach him. Probably his next guinea pig so that he could brag about the amount of work he had done over the weekend and show us that he is more hard-working and smart than us. “Hey”, he said, “You!”
“You guys wanna hear about my concept?” Arjun asked with gleaming eyes. We had no choice but to listen to him blabber with a grin. Of course, we also had to see if his concept was better than ours, ha! Aren’t we all a little guilty of that? Apart from this, we are often eager to see everyone’s design not because we want to learn, prosper and help ourselves grow but also to see if somewhere or the other, we are better than them. The college and its environment do bring out our competitive side.
So, 15 minutes later after Arjun finished explaining his ultra-deep concept, one of us appreciated him for the kind of efforts he had put in. Jokes and criticism apart, a little appreciation that comes from the heart can boost up a person’s confidence. But he had too much pride. He said, in a demeaning manner, that he could have done more 10-15 sheets and a few more explanatory models if he had more time. However, analyzing him from the kind of person he is, that compliment made him gloat. Rubbing it in, he excitedly said, “Do you guys know the reason for me being at the top of this class? Kyunki mere paas sab hain. Mere paas talent hain, skills hain, sab latest softwares hain, prismacolor pencils hain, sources aur kitne saare mehenge reference books hain. Tumhare paas kya hain?” (Translation: I have everything. I have my talent, my skills, all the latest softwares, prismacolor pencils, sources and various expensive reference books. What do you have?)
I said, “Humare paas time hai. That’s enough.” (We have time. That’s enough.)
Well, don’t we all agree to this statement? It doesn’t matter whether your parents are architects and you can get their guidance at any time or if you have pricey books you can refer to while doing an assignment. At the end, all that matters is how one can manage their time and how one can utilize this extra time into manifesting their thoughts and concepts into reality. And on a funny note, I did say that college does bring out the creative side in me.
