Generation 1- Shashikant: Age 91 years and Lata: Age 88 years
They stay in a village close to the city of Pune and are involved in farming.
Both of them are very independent and self reliant and although they used to do all their activities themselves. They lead a very simple and modest lifestyle even though they could afford to be lavish in their living.
Interaction with the neighbours and the people of the village was comparatively easy and there were no barriers and formalities as it was a very close knit community of few families.
Their son Shivkumar after his education had settled in the city of Pune and had started his own business which was growing at a rapid pace.
Having spent all their life in the village they were very attached to it and were hesitant to move to the city and stay with their son despite of their son wishing them to do so.
Predominant activities:
Both Shashikant and Lata used to pray at the Tulsi Vrindavan in the courtyard of their house in the early mornings. While Shashikant used to go to the farm during the day she also used to carry out all the household activities in the courtyard. Lata used to spend her time in the small garden she had developed in the back yard of their house, feed birds regularly and go for small walks in the evenings and meet other women in the village.
After returning from work Shashikant and Lata used to sit in the front yard of their house which was also a place for interaction with other people from the village.
He very often used to sleep in the courtyard gazing at the stars.
They shfit to their sons residence in the urban city of Pune after insistence from Shivkumar.
Due to old age, recent disability and health issues they have difficulties in moving in and out of the house frequently. They were mostly confined to their room and felt restricted and in the changed circumstances. At the same time they wanted to be independent and did not like the feeling of being looked after/nursed by anyone.
With great efforts they would come out of their room for their morning prayers, meals and in the evenings when they preferred to sit in the rear garden of the house from where they could see and interact with few people.
Lata would still make it a point to pray every morning and carry out her daily rituals as always.
Things in the city were different for them where everyone seemed to be busy with their own life and interacting freely with people was not as easy and convenient as it was in the village. They felt the need to meet and interact with people which used to happen very easily and spontaneously in the village.
Characteristics: Very simple and modest in their way of living. They use resources very carefully and are very conscious about their use. They are independent in nature and very self reliant. Firm believer in god and carry out rituals every single day. They prefer reading rather than watching television as a form of entertainment. Eat simple food and at fixed times. Dressing is usually simple and they follow the traditional way of clothing. They mostly look at clothing as a necessity and not too much importance is given to visual appearance. They lead a very systematic life with not much variation as if they are programmed for it. They have lead life in an era of poverty and less financial liberties than the future generations and when agriculture was the main and most important activity generating income. More connected to nature and natural ways of doing things rather than relying on the gadgets and gizmos of modern life which they sometimes find complicated and not too comfortable to use.
Generation 2- Son - Shivkumar: Age 68 years and his Wife: Pallavi: Age 64 years
After his education Shivkumar had started a small business with the financial support of his parents.
Soon business starts growing and so does his prosperity. Shivkumar buys his first small apartment before he gets married to Pallavi, the neighbour’s daughter from his village with his parents consent and approval.
Shivkumar’s parents are now getting older and he is worried about their health. He forces them to move to Pune and stay with him.
Shivkumar felt the need for a bigger house but on one hand do not wish to move out as they have made friends around and had found their comfort value in every thing and did not wish to be uprooted but knew that soon he had to build a home for the family.
Predominant activities:
Shivkumar spends most of his time in his industry between the cranes, gantries, furnaces and conveyor belts. He is obsessed with the look and sound of metal work. He attributes his success to the efficiency, precision, timely delivery and the cost of production achieved by his industry. He has technical collaborations with a number of multinational companies and hopes to use his experience and expertise someday in building in his own house. He believes in personal input, supervision and involvement in anything that he does.
He uses technology and gadgets necessary for excelling in his work and is not fascinated by the gizmos which do not result in productivity and add value to his progress.
Shivkumar has a habit of having oil massage (Shirodhara) every Sunday morning. He recycles the oil he uses for his massage and uses it for lighting oil lamps during the evenings (one of the values that he has learnt from his parents….use of resources judiciously)
Shivkumar too is religious and is spiritually oriented in nature and has great faith in God. He firmly believes that it is due to his faith, trust and belief in God apart from his hard work and efforts that God has been supportive of him and he is successful. He meditates, listens to classical music and practices yoga whenever he has time in the evenings and certainly during the weekends.
He loves travelling, plays golf and is an active member of a lot of social clubs.
He is also actively involved in a lot of social welfare works.
He also loves to gaze at the sky and installs a telescope on the terrace. He devices a mechanism to elevate him higher than the adjacent structures to be able to get an un-obstructed view of the surroundings which he used to enjoy initially when he first moved into the area.
Pallavi is very religious in nature and devotes a considerable amount of time everyday to her prayers and rituals. She has a small garden and plants rose shrubs along with other flowering plants in the garden to get flowers for the daily rituals. Pallavi always feels the need for more flowers for her rituals. Lata too uses flowers for her daily rituals.
The creeper on the fence between their home and the neighbours bear a lot of flowers but cannot be accessed easily and hence Shivkumar devices a mechanism to cut and collect the flowers without them falling on the ground. This is primarily because it would be very convenient for Lata to use it and will be a great relief for her if she can carry out her prayers independently without the need for anyone to help her in doing so.
The coconut trees which they have planted in the rear garden have grown and start bearing fruits. They are worried that they might fall and hurt people who use the walkway and the seating in the garden behind. They construct a device for collecting the coconuts.
Pallavi has also planted Betel nut creepers which grew around the coconut trees. The leaves of Betel nut are offered for the rituals.
Pallavi loves the sound of water and it reminds her of the stream which passes near her rural ancestral home.
Characteristics: Comparatively modest in lifestyle. They have seen and experienced the rural way of life and the modern life as well. They are aware of technology and use it in a restrained manner and whenever essential and necessary. They are fond of classical music, drama and theatre. They are a link between the generation 1 and 3 and impart traditional and cultural values to generation 3. They have strained out the complexities of the traditional beliefs and have rationalized their way of thinking rather than follow them blindly. They have more exposure to what is happening around and are able to grasp new thoughts and modern way of life faster than the generation 1.
Generation 3- Shivkumar has one son, Monish aged 30 and a daughter Geetu aged 25 years. Monish has now been helping in the family business since couple of years and
handled the business very efficiently and is responsible for the rapid growth of the business. The family sees a lot of prosperity.
Monish and his wife Meghana are a working couple. They are very social and extrovert in nature and always have friends over to their house for dinners, to watch movies, sporting events and parties. They feel the need for an entertainment area where they can entertain their friends.
Monish is fond of expensive cars, watches and is very brand conscious. He is very possessive about his cars.
After the birth of their son Samay, Monish and Meghana feel the need for additional space for their kid and also hope to have a swimming pool.
Geetu is 25 years of age and paints. Most of her paintings are about a fantasy world. She is very well travelled and has a lot of friends all over the world. Her last painting is an image related to her family and her house which…….(don’t know as yet).
Both Monish and Geetu have a lot of friends who visit their house very often.
Characteristics: This generation is fully immersed in the present day modern life. Gadgets, gizmos, worldwide web and virtual reality are important aspect of life. International travel is a common thing. Globalization and consumerism are important components of life. The long working hours, fast pace of life, multi-tasking, multi-cuisine food, social networking are lifestyle indicators of this generation.
This generation is aware of the life of the generation 1 and can relate with it to a large extent which the generation 4 may find difficult to comprehend. The house for this generation is used for a lot more activities as compared to the other generations and is more permeable to friends.
Generation 4 - As Samay grows up, he starts loving the presence of birds in the rear garden and
hopes to be able to see more of them. Meghana and Pallavi soon start developing an aviary and also a large play room for Samay to play with his toys freely.
Creative learning and DIY is a way of daily enrichment of knowledge. They need space which they can use as they feel like and which will enhance their creative abilities. Virtual reality will be an integral part of their life.
Neighbours - The other people who use the recreation space behind the Rathore’s house
too start enjoying the presence of the birds and start contributing in their own way for the development of the area. This eventually results in very dense vegetation in place which was a rather dry dusty and neglected field with very few plants.
Analyzing the lifestyles of the generations, re-interpreting them in the present context and imagining the future are important factors which will lay down the principles and guidelines for the design of an ever evolving dwelling.
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