This poem was an exercise during my internship at Ahmedabad. The aim was to be able to pen down one’s feelings of a space.. For those of you who’ve been in and around Ahmedabad, this poem would hopefully lead you to guess the space I’m talking about. And for those of you who haven’t, well, you probably should visit it someday !
Feelings Penned Down…
10th February, 2016
Thursday
As I follow my shadow towards her,
I feel the cool stone beneath my feet.
Light creeps in through her traceries
And her presence dawns on me.
Barring a few souls and their prayers,
She is quiet, yet not empty.
And in this solitude
She speaks to me plenty.
Like a song, she unfolds at every corner,
Being her loudest near the water.
As my shadow follows me,
The stone now feels rough.
Shades of dusk grasp at her
And her presence fades to my senses.
Beyond the voices of families and children,
her voice is but a faint echo.
This is another song of hers,
But I am still listening to the former.
To those of you who’ve made a guess, the poem is titled ” Two souls at Sarkhej”. Sarkhej Roza was one of those spaces in the city that made a deep impression on me. I’ve visited it only twice – once during sunrise and the other at twilight.. I think the poem perfectly describes my reaction at both of these instances.
This exercise made me understand that space can make you feel things – whether you’re conscious of it is another question altogether. So, when you take the time out to look back at what feelings they’ve extruded from us, it helps us understand that spatial quality even more. The idea of a space, or a populated space, sparse space, quiet space, loud space… These are qualities arising from its Architecture primarily, complemented by the action of people in it. So the next time you visit a space, try to recall what it makes you feel. You may be surprised at your own memory !
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