Bonsai people

“What are you doing??”

“Am doing my Architecture degree.”

“Oh, so you are going to be a future architect… hmm great. .”

                Feels so good to hear that.  Isn’t it. Yes, it is.  Every student of architecture gets some relief and gains some pleasure out of it. We think " Oh, we are going to do great things here. These people are looking forward to us."  

Architecture is a field of immense scope for expressing our way, our style, our perception of what we intend to see the world around. This is a profession where we have the full freedom to do what our mind speaks, until the client says no. Don’t worry, this isn’t an article to support the colleges to increase their seats in Architecture degree. I just want to give some explanation as to why i call the architects as Bonsai People.

Bonsai People.

Good name, right.. i like it..

We, the Bonsai people, learn subjects that are related to art, engineering, construction technique, 3d software skills, estimation, and apart from all these we develop a good hand in drawing, and drafting. Even the psychology of the people are to be considered when we design something. You might have started comparing with the subjects others study. Others i mean the other courses like Electrical, Mechanical, and many more. So we have a better knowledge in various subjects. Now compare. A mechanical engineer studies about the working of machines, and actually i don't know what more he studies.But still, i have to continue with this, right. I can recollect instances where my friends studying for engineering degrees, they sympathize on us  on their way to the bathroom for a loo between their sleep, when they see us working through the night.   The bonsai people have to know to manage the budget, estimate, design, and apart from all these, he/she has to impress the client. The bonsai people, they aren't young, they are infact suppressed under these constraints. They just have to be let free and given a chance to develop. Compare. Bonsai. You get my point??

During the study, the junior bonsaies have to sit through the nights preparing sheets, presentations and design. When other students of other courses don't even work half of what we do, when it comes to the professional level, they are the ones who succeed and we are the under-dogs. Am referring to the situation in India. As far as i know this is not the case in other countries. In Kuwait, a fresh civil engineer or an architect gets a monthly peanut of around 40k Indian moneys. I was shocked to know that for an architect in Kerala, the average monthly peanuts is around 10k. That means around 300 moneys per day, almost same as the salary a daily wage worker gets here in Kerala. But remember, this is all after the rigorous days of sleepless nights and countless sheets. Just for a moment, i thought," Why am i still studying here??". May be because, i like the pleasure i get when i design something, may be because am not bothered about my future.

Its true. Am not bothering about what will happen in my future days. I wonder where these architects disappear. All architects aren't moving to teaching profession after they complete their course. May be  majority of them do their masters and narrow down their interest and may be their chance for sustenance.