thesis day today

so many from last year gave their thesis today and so few from the current semester. i don’t particularly agree with the blanket rule that says that everybody has to give their thesis on the same day. some require more time than others and i think they should be allowed that time.

mayuri, poor thing, failed the last time for a project that this time simply rocked the house. i don’t think i have ever seen a thesis jury go that well. she explained perfectly, simply and straightforwardly, the drawings backed her up and the model was superb. a police station on the highly contested terrain of pascal maidan in jogeshwari- the playground that became a ballet ground during the 1992 riots. the jurors went ‘excellent/ brilliant” and then left her alone.

diptis project also on the western express highway unfortunately did not fare as well. i think the project has so much possibility. it is one of the few ‘complete’ thesis.. memory and the history of a site.. ghosts she calls them. referential and experiential time. the resolution is where it all fell apart. i wish she had had more time.

tara was the other student i sat in for replacing manoj who had to run to a meeting. the hejdukian narratives and poetics did not go down smoothly with the jurors who found it all to “subjective”. tara herself stumbled all over the argument but was adorable with her one liners at the end. and the pavilions were little pieces of art. beautiful and evocative.