Polishing the past

But there is solace and it comes from his assignment to conserve and repair the Rajabai Tower. Vikas is currently restoring the stained glass and metal work of the Rajabai Tower, that has corroded due to Mumbai8217;s intensely humid weather.

Anodd job, it sure is. But Mohenjodaro fascinated and Harappa enthralled this 32 year old. Always. History was a pet subject of this student of Jamnabai Narsee. It took a back seat though, in college, when science became more important. He ended up as a student of architecture when he didn8217;t get the right marks for admission to a medical college. But this second choice ended up as the right decision. It was during his degree that Vikas re-discovered his links with what was to grow into a passion history, heritage and conservation.

But conservation is not a cake walk. Especially so, in our part of the world. And Vikas realised this while he was college itself. quot;Our assignment in class required us to redesign the dilapidated Crawford Market building,quot; he recalls. Most of the students broke the building on paper down and constructed a new one in its place. Vikas was the only one who treated it more like a patient who needed treatment and care. So, he worked out ways to conserve it. Result: he was the only onewho scored very low marks on the assignment while the other students cleared it with flying colours.Vikas was ambitious but also a dreamer. He didn8217;t throw away the idea of conserving heritage structures in Mumbai like a hot potato. Instead, he was brave enough to pursue a postgraduate thesis in conservation from The School of Planning and Architecture, in Delhi.

But even after he finished his formal education in the subject, little was happening in the field. quot;I used to approach people with projects but they always asked for suggestions. I couldn8217;t work on an honourarium for ever,quot; he says. He did the odd job here and there for construction companies but the big break came when he flew to London on the Charles Wallace India Trust CWIT scholarship.

quot;Conservation is very culture specific,quot; says Vikas. His year-long scholarship was a learning experience. Indian heritage has its own peculiar problems that the West with its emphasis on conservation and government funding never faces. quot;I undertook thewhole course from a third world point of view. We don8217;t have the kind of money they have. I had to be realistic,quot; he says. And his attempts were rewarded by a distinction in the course.

He earned similar laurels back home with his work on the Jeejeebhoy Bahramjee School in Charni Road, the BMC building and the Pathobacterial Laboratory in the SPCA premises, Parel. India8217;s 10-year-old conservation movement had now created some scope for the conservation architect.

Which is why he now prefers to view his work in black and white.

Rejuvenation is, probably, fine but words like face-lift and beautification find no place in his dictionary. quot;Beautification is wrong. We end up spending more money for quick results,quot; he says, quot;We use heritage buildings like hoardings.quot; Yet, Vikas is no puritan. His is a practical stand. He sticks to a certain set of beliefs as he goes about with his work. Belief number one: Buildings have life. Vikas treats them like patients. Belief number two: Minimum intervention, use oflike-to-like materials. quot;An architect has to keep his ego humble. He has to keep the inputs to a minimum so that the old can be retained,quot; says he.

Modern-day malaise like ignorance and laziness regarding conservation on part of the public, lack of government funds for conservation, old cable wires on heritage buildings along drainage pipes for the brightly lit effect8217;, all irritate Vikas to no end. But his treatment of the old is different, almost reverent. His love for the past grows stronger every day and there is nothing the present can do to diminish it.