The 1st day of the Architectural Democracy Tour in India

My lecture tour in India in 2019 started from the Middle east. I took a late flight from Muscat, Oman, on the 8th March 2019 arriving around midnight to Mumbai, India. Living in Finland, now all tropical weather is just an experience worthy of a photo!

My host, a researcher working at the Architectural Department of the University of Pune, arranged a taxi to drive me from Mumbai to Pune, in order that I make it on time to give the 1st lecture of the tour on Architectural Democracy, on the 9th.

This video does not really make justice to the 3 hours long driving scenario. The drive is soooo risky! There are countless broken cars and people on the road side, heavy load trucks waiting to collapse at the high hills, etc... As usual in India, there are people everywhere along the whole way, doing whatever... The highway often transforms suddenly into a small alley cornered by a shanty town, then again back into a 3 lane highway flooded with makeshift cars and vans and a constant orchestra of horns.

Despite the driving tornado, I did fall asleep from a long week of work and parties in Oman, only to wake up at the entrance of the hotel in Pune. A hotel that had seen its best days, with cracks everywhere disguised with some passé glamour. I tipped the driver, had the tropical breakfast and slept for a few hours. This drive was on my top 5 risky trips on the same rank as of the bus ride from Cotonou to Lagos in West Africa.

Pedro Aibéo