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Arjun
And The
Fish's
Eye
SAKIL
PALIKHE, born November 10th 1980 in Ganesh Tole
- just a 10 minute walk away from the famous
Mahendra Pul - of peaceful and scenic Pokhara, spent
precious few years in his lovely hometown. Much of
his life has been lived in big and bustling
Kathmandu. Having completed his schooling from
Adarsha Yoghari School in Lainchaur, Kathmandu,
Sakil joined the Thapathali Engineering College in
2000 from where he received his Diploma in
Architecture. Then, he enrolled himself in Kathmandu
Engineering College, Kalimati, from where he
received his B. Arch degree in 2006.
In
between, while still in college, Sakil worked for
six months with Kalika Constructions which no doubt
must have contributed to his education as far as
practical experience was concerned. Actually, this
is where Sakil seems to be a bit different from the
pack – he is one young man who seems to be in a
mighty hurry. This is one professional who does not
believe in waiting for opportunities to drop in his
lap. No wonder, today, he is practically at work 24
hours a day, give or take a few hours for normal
human activities. For the last three months he has
been working with New Progressive Designers under
Dr. Prakash Bir Singh’s able supervision.
Simultaneously, Sakil is also doing some freelance
work with National Estate Builders under Civil
Engineer R. B. Shah where, Sakil is primarily
involved with the creation of the Rudreswor Dhyan
Kendra in Shivpuri heights. “It is a very big
project,” says the young architect. “It is spread
over a large area and the design will be based on
the Shikara style of architecture.” In line with
current one-upmanship, and competitive religious
trends, the major attraction will probably be the
mammoth statue of Shiva - envisaged to be almost
thirty five feet high.
But back to what we were saying about Sakil – that
he seems to be in a mighty hurry to get ‘there’ –
the ‘there’ of course meaning, professional success.
formed a company of his own along with Architects
Sagun Sthapit and Susan Vaidya, both college
friends. Sakil is honest in admitting that he wishes
to attain success in the soonest time possible and
he is determined enough to make the requisite
sacrifices to achieve the same. “Our firm is called
D-Architect,” he reveals. “And we have about ten
projects in hand.” A promising start, to say the
least.
This year, in January, Sakil won the 1st prize for
his model of the ‘Bamboo Research Centre’ at the
‘Drishti 2063 Exhibition’ organized by Kathmandu
Engineering College. The model was part of his
thesis presentation and about which, Sakil supposes,
“I think the jurors could have given due
consideration to the extensive research done by me
in the writing of my thesis.” The young man appears
to be completely bowled over by the humble bamboo’s
charms, and declares that he would like to be ‘the’
specialist in the subject because he believes that
bamboo in the Nepalese architect’s hands taking into
consideration its efficiency and economy.
As far as architecture in general is concerned,
Sakil is of the opinion that the present situation
in the country shows a proclivity more for form,
function and durability, with less emphasis on the
very important aspect of aesthetics. He himself
gives much weight to function and aesthetics
without, at the same time, disregarding form and
durability. However, as can he real world, Sakil is
a bit too involved in his own ambitious world, to
have much time to view the world on a wider scale.
So, he does sound surprised on hearing about some
issues to do with the Capital’s cityscape, issues
that one would think are in vogue now, at least
within the architectural world. But, of course, one
must hasten to add that this can happen to anyone so
focused and determined to reach a particular goal.
Somewhat like the mythological tale of Mahabharat’s
Arjun and the fish’s eye.
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