Between The Earth And Sky
A. SRIVATHSAN
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?

Goan architect Dean D’Cruz creates a riot of colour, bends steel bars to make unfathomable shapes and uses materials sumptuously in his designs.

My preference has been projects that adhere to or wish to explore the green ideas

Photos: Dinesh Mehta
Free spirit: D’Cruz can get adventurous with forms and structures.

There is so much free spirit in his buildings, but he hardly evokes his Goan identity to explain them. His designs are about forms from the past with links to tradition, but you quickly realise they are his own invention. When he describes his buildings, names of socially conscientiousness architects such as Laurie Baker pop up, but his buildings can be ostentatious and simply fun loving. Dean D’Cruz, the well known and the prolific architect from Goa, is not a bundle of contradictions, but a designer who could create a riot of colour, compress different forms within a small frame, bend the steel bars to make unfathomable shapes and use materials sumptuously with ease and without apology. He enjoys his buildings and so do his admirers.

Dean D’Cruz’s 25 years of practice includes a wide variety of buildings from residence to resorts to institutions. The leitmotif, if we can call it so, includes exposed building materials, fluid shapes, pitched roof and tiles. There is a strong preference for the Goan laterite rubble masonry that is often elegantly juxtaposed with well plastered walls.

Without any pun intended, many tend to compare him as the Indian Gaudi. Antonio Gaudi was a Catalan architect of the late 19th century known for his innovative forms. When I met D’Cruz in Chennai and brought up Gaudi’s name in the darkly lit restaurant, it was hard to figure if D’Cruz blushed. But he did say, “In comparison I do not even come close to the daring innovations of Gaudi.” But there is no doubt that D’Cruz can get adventurous with forms and structures that he made famous by his designs for Nilaya Resort, Goa.

Startling effects

The uninhibited juxtaposition of various materials produces a riotous effect similar to that of Gaudi’s buildings. This is probably where the comparison between the two stops or for that matter with Baker. D’Cruz’s architecture is like a stylised version of the truth — more on the style side. His buildings do not evoke any moral dictum as some architects are known to do through phrases such as “honesty of materials”.

Irreverent designs

D’Cruz’s architecture can at times get very irreverent and work at the level of fantasy. He can design Japanese style rooms with wooden floors, comfortably place them in the Goan shores and let them rub shoulders with his other buildings modelled on Kerala architectural style. With the same ease, he can slip from fantasy and design seriously expressive buildings such as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, Karvar. The roof here floats and is designed to evoke the imagery of trees with their branches holding a canopy. The interior of the church looks like an amphitheatre set inside a grove. If you think his architecture has taken a serious turn, he can quickly shock you with his jungle lodges that unhesitatingly cover the brick walls with mud to produce an ethnic effect. Some critics may cry foul and dismiss it as scenic architecture. But DCruz looks at it his way: “I prefer to work with local materials, use it as creatively as possible and may end up producing a recognisable style. But it is not a signature that I use.”

Reflecting on his practice, he admits that there was a time when he felt his vocabulary was getting limited and restrained. “Wanted to break free. As a young architect, I was more a systems man. Structure and steel appealed. I may not do the chrome and glass architecture that is widely prevalent now, but I would like to explore other possibilities.” So when a industrial group approached him for a training centre, he decided to move away from the scattered layout of smaller buildings and try something that reflects the technological associations of the company. Hence it was not surprising when D’Cruz mentioned that the Arab World Institute designed by Jean Nouvel in Paris as one of his favourite buildings. Here, he explained, the technology is internalised, made expressive and put in the service of the building.

Going green

In recent years, D’Cruz is increasingly concerned with ideas of sustainability and green architecture. “I have stopped working on houses that are sprawling and energy guzzling. My preference has been projects that adhere to or wish to explore the green ideas.” He is visibly happy when he describes how he was able to build a 1,500 sq. ft house near Vasco, for a moderate sum of Rs12,00,000. “The competition we were short-listed for at Pune and our work at Noida focus on how to make the building sustainable and reduce its energy consumption,” he explained.

The idea of sustainable development pervades his concern for the city and region. As an advisor to the Government of Goa, he advocates against urban sprawl and instead prefers compact growth. He opposed the spread of SEZ, the previous regional plan and any insensitive exploitation of Goa. Behind his advocacy his desire to be rooted in Goa is visible. “I am thankful that I started practice at Goa. It has allowed me to explore many ideas and take the route that I have taken. Any other place might have been a little stifling for me.”

Finger length may predict financial success
http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/print-477154.html
January 14,2009 Print
Source: AP

The length of a man's ring finger may predict his success as a financial trader. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in England report that men with longer ring fingers, compared to their index fingers, tended to be more successful in the frantic high-frequency trading in the London financial district.

Indeed, the impact of biology on success was about equal to years of experience at the job, the team led by physiologist John M. Coates reports in Monday\'s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The same ring-to-index finger ratio has previously been associated with success in competitive sports such as soccer and basketball, the researchers noted.

The length ratio between those two fingers is determined during the development of the fetus and the relatively longer ring finger indicates greater exposure to the male hormone androgen, the researchers noted. Previous studies have found that such exposure can lead to increased confidence, risk preferences, search persistence, heightened vigilance and quickened reaction times.

In a separate study last year, Coates and colleagues reported that the hormone that drives male aggression and sexual interest also seemed able to boost short term success at finance. They studied male financial traders in London, taking saliva samples in the morning and evening. They found that those with higher levels of testosterone in the morning were more likely to make an unusually big profit that day. Testosterone, best known as the male sex hormone, affects aggression, confidence and risk-taking.

In the new study, the researchers measured the right hands of 44 male stock traders who were engaged in a type of trade that involved rapid decision-making and quick physical reactions. Over 20 months those with longer ring fingers compared to their index fingers made 11 times more money than those with the shortest ring fingers. Over the same time the most experienced traders made about 9 times more than the least experienced ones.

Looking only at experienced traders, the long-ring-finger folks earned 5 times more than those with short ring fingers. While the finger ratio, showing fetal exposure to male hormones, appears to signal likely success in high-actively trading that calls for risk-taking and quick reactions, it may not indicate people who would do well at other sorts of financial activities, the researchers said.

Some traders require additional skills on dealing with clients and sales workers. And the advantage may even reverse for some, Coates team said, such as traders taking a more analytical and long-term approach to the markets. One study, which looked at average finger ratios in university departments found that faculty from math, science and engineering exhibited longer index finger ratio, rather than ring finger, they noted.

On the Net:
PNAS: http://www.pnas.org

Victor Rangel Ribeiro Conducts The Goa State Strings Orchestra

Pictures From MONTE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2009
By Joel D’Souza

See Clip on youtube: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=DIWNhDh2rPU&feature=channel_page

TEGSA's WHIST DRIVE - GAMES NITE - 1st Event 2009

T’was on a cold Sunday afternoon, the 25th of January, but that did’nt deter the 110 enthusiastic TEGSA Seniors, who put on a brave front and headed towards the Commander Hall, for their first Games session in 2009.

As the doors opened, they brought in their warmth and their skills to a fun afternoon.! As they selected their tables and settled down with their deck of cards that were dealt round the table to play a round of 16 games of Whist, with a half break in-between of 10 minutes, the players with the highest score were awarded 1st 2nd and 3rd prizes. To be fair, a prize was also awarded to the player with the lowest score!  Juliet‘s group Scrabbled until it was Bingo time.

Any event is not complete without food, hence to keep up the tradition, a delicious snack plate, catered by Winnie Gomes, was relished by all.

Unfortunately, only one round of Bingo was played towards the end of the evening, much to the disappointment of most of the players, who yearned for another round! The winners went home smiling!

A vote of thanks go out to Manny Sequeira and Phil D’Souza, for conducting the Whist and all the helpers who made this first event, a “whistling” success!

Until the next time, congrats to the winners, and many thanks to one and all for braving the weather and coming out in full force to support This first event for the season! This goes to prove that TEGSA seniors can beat the “Winter blahs”, on a cold Sunday afternoon, with such whim and vigor!

They look forward to a repeat performance in the months to follow!

America's Youngest Indian CEO
January 16, 2009
PTI Article.

At 39 years, Francisco D'Souza, the India-origin chief executive of software firm Cognizant Technology Solutions, is one of the youngest CEOs in America, running an American public company that is worth at least $5.7 billion. The latest among a slew of honours for this young business honcho is a mention in business magazine Forbes' updated list of '21 youngest CEOs at USA's biggest companies.' 'Francisco D'Souza, 39, heads what is now the largest public company run by a 40-or-under CEO, though his $5.7-billion Cognizant Technology Solutions is dwarfed by the $16.9-billion Yahoo!.' Forbes said. 'D'Souza has been an officer at Cognizant for 11 years now, chief executive since 2007, and chief operating officer since 2003, when he was a mere 33.'

All the chief executives named in the list are in the age group of 34 to 40 years. 'They are the youngest people running the biggest companies in America. As they have gotten this far already, keep an eye on them in the future,' Forbes said in an accompanying report. D'Souza took over from Lakshmi Narayanan, who became vice-chairman of the board. At the time, D'Souza was also inducted into the board.

In an interview he gave before he became CEO, he shared his views on how businesses become and remain profitable. "Cognizant choose the customer-centric, relationship-driven model right from our founding and we have built upon it. The outcome of this model is that we service a limited number of customers and provide increasing value as we grow those relationships. The fact that we serve our customers deeply is reflected in the ratio of relationship managers and client partner to be higher than our sales professionals," he said

D'Souza is a person of Indian origin, born in Nairobi, Kenya. Since his father was a diplomat with the Indian Foreign Services, he has lived in and travelled to many different countries. He has an MBA from Carnegie-Mellon University and was a 2004 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. He also won the Economic Times Entrepreneur Award in 2005.

At Cognizant, which he joined in its early days, D'Souza oversees much of the operations and business development of the company. He has earned a total compensation of $ 1,777,883.00, according to Forbes. Forbes also noted that the most experienced and seasoned old CEOs have to make hard-nosed decisions and endure intense scrutiny during tough times. 'Young CEOs may find themselves under an even brighter spotlight, thanks to their supposed inexperience. But at least they have plenty of time ahead of them to correct any errors -- and possibly move on to even bigger things,' it added.

Text: PTI, Wikipedia, Cognizant Technology Solutions