Architect walks 1700 kilometres to explore design's role in daily life

Gita Balakrishnan

Walking 1700 kilometres in 70 days is no small feat. It requires steady mental and physical preparation before the walk and endurance while at it. Inspired by the impact that similar journeys have had in the past, architect Gita Balakrishnan took it upon herself to take the leap too. Through her walk, she spoke to people from various socio-economic and educational backgrounds to understand the influence of design and designers on human lives. Her journey took her to several small towns, cities, and villages spread across the seven states between Kolkata and New Delhi.

Interacting with participants during a session. Pics Courtesy/Instagram

Her book, 1700 in 70: A Walk for a Cause (Rupa), documents this mission. Beginning with her introduction to architecture through her uncle and her relationship with her body over the years, the book moves on to her resilience over the years, and her training to build strength and fitness before the big project. Some of the most interesting parts of the book were her sharp observations on the need for architecture-and-design-based innovations within practices.

For instance, her interaction with the 25-year-old trainee-nurses from an NGO in Jharkhand made her take stock of the challenges faced when they graduated from education to full-time work. Their infrequent visits to hospitals during the period of training made their eventual workplace seem alien to the nurses. She reflects on the need for designing modules which would focus on the layout of places of work.

For somebody who underwent four surgeries in her twenties, had contracted tuberculosis, was advised a hysterectomy in her late thirties, diagnosed with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, and fought sexual abuse, the 1700-km-walk is an achievement itself. However, we found ourselves often wishing for a more detailed view, as readers, of the conversations she had with various communities of students, teachers, activists, and workers she met during her walk. This would have given us a deeper understanding of her journey and learnings.

The Old Way. Pic Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

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Interesting titles about life-changing journeys:

Journeys Across India: Durgacharan Rakshit, a scholar and business owner, travelled across India for 18 years by various means - on foot, train, boat, and horse-drawn carriage. The book, originally written in Bengali, now released in an English translation, is a detailed account of his observations in four parts. Rakshit divides it according to the four coordinates he visited, chronicling India between the 1870s and 1900. His curiosity and receptiveness led him to understand the way people dressed, worshipped, ate, created, engaged with rituals and customs, and lived.

There are Other Rivers: From one coast in southern parts of India to another, Alastair Humphreys travels on foot for six weeks following the Cauvery River. He didn't wish to see the typical locations, but to witness India through its everyday realities. He, therefore, captures pieces of India caught in the excitement of the festivals, the sound of song and dance, the smell and vibrance of flowers, posters of God, and local gossip at tea stalls. While Humphreys's descriptions make the title a riveting read, we also pause with him at several moments where the body starts showing signs of fatigue like sore legs and feet, and thumping head from dehydration.

Alastair Humphreys during his walk. Pic Courtesy/AlastairHumphreys.com

The Gathering Place: A Winter Pilgrimage through Changing Times: The author Mary Colwell, takes a 500-mile walk through the Camino Frances (the French Way), from France all the way to the Cathedral of Santiago in Spain, the resting place of St James. Nearly three lakh people travel through it every year, but interestingly Colwell walks this path during the pandemic in 2020. She notes how walking a sacred trail in the middle of a changing political climate in the US was a way to connect the past, etched in the landscape and paths, with the present, and "understand more about being human on a challenging planet."

Between the Chalk and the Sea: About a decade ago, nature writer Robert McFarlane wrote The Old Ways travelling across the British landscape. Gail Simmons's fairly recent book takes us, much like Mary Colwell, through the Old Way pilgrimage routes across England, from Southampton to Canterbury. Simmons is not so much a religious pilgrim but a walker writing about what it means to slow travel in the age of fast journeys, what it means to look at history anew, and what makes travel by foot different for a woman walker.

Bonus pick: The Salt Path: After losing everything Raynor Winn and her husband Moth walk along the 630-mile-long South West Coast Path in the UK. Moth is also fighting an incurable degenerative brain disease. The walk is transformative for the two as they end their journey "reformed by the elements."

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