Namaste Tower

The Namaste tower! Designed by the Atkins design studio, work IS currently underway on this 300m-62 storeyed mixed use tower that will encompass a hotel, office and retail space.


The location is Ambika mills which is a couple hundred meters south of the biggest mall in South Central Mumbai - The palladium. The developer of the project is unknown. The renders and text were submitted by Atkins to the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona (3-5 Nov 2010).


Following the long tradition of great Indian Architecture it was our aim that the Namaste Tower will stand as a landmark structure, representative of the burgeoning economic and cultural significance of India. We aimed to design a building that would become representative of the city: the picture postcard of Mumbai.


Key Statistics:
• 120,000 m2 of Gross Construction Area
• 380 key luxury hotel
• Exclusive restaurants, bars, banqueting and spa facilities
• 9,000 m2 of A grade office space
• 6,000 m2 of world class retail space
• 300 m overall building height


“Namaste"
The traditional Indian greeting of ‘Namaste’, where the hands are clasped together in greeting, is the inspiration for the design of this tower. In Sanskrit “Namaste` means “I bow to you`. It has a spiritual significance of negating one’s ego in the presence of another.


The Architecture of the Namaste Hotel builds on this ancient Indian expression. The two wings of the hotel are clasped together like hands greeting the city of Mumbai. In this way the architectural design of the hotel provides the ultimate symbol of hospitality and welcome, as seen in the as seen in the cultural context of India.



Visual Relationships to and from the Site
With a proposed height of 300 m the tower will be seen from a distance of more than 40 km. Therefore the visual appearance of the project as a major landmark is of great importance to the city of Mumbai.



Views from the tower will extend to the South over the Mahalakhsmi Race course towards the Mumbai Peninsula and to the South West over the Indian Ocean. The views to the north East are towards a number of adjacent towers that are currently being constructed. The orientation and massing of the tower have been designed in order to make the very best of these visual relationships.


The Building Skin
The tower has been designed to cater for large scale Indian weddings. The occasion of a Mehndi ceremony (where the hands and feet of the bride and groom are decorated with henna) is often one of the most important pre-wedding rituals in India.


The design seeks to build on the theme of the clasped hands by referencing the intricate Mehndi patterns through the treatment of the building skin. The tower is will be clad in fritted glazing that combines to form an architectural scale graphic on the exterior of the building. This will create a sense of transparency and depth to the building while at the same time helping to maintain the thermal qualities required to meet the building’s envelope design criteria.


It is proposed that the large scale canopies over the drop-off points area support an array of solar thermal collectors. Given the available surface area and annual sunlight conditions these have the potential to provide 12% of the energy required to heat the hot water for the hotel.


General Arrangement
The tower is made up of two separate wings (or hands) which together form the architectural expression of “Namaste”. The space between the wings forms the corridor spaces. At either end of the corridor space a pair of open atria will offer hotel guests dramatic framed views out over the city.


Internal Atrium Gardens
These atria also serve to bring natural light deep into the plan. At the plant floor levels these atria are broken with internal gardens that serve to bring greenery into the corridor and atrium spaces. It was a central design aim to ensure that the circulation areas of the hotel, (including corridors) are just as impressive as the rooms themselves.



The Podium
The geometry of the podium is designed to integrate fully with the design of the tower. Thus it is a highly symmetrical form that responds to the wing like canopies above the drop off. Containing mostly retail, the facade of the podium is activated with water features and fountains that cascade down to street level.



The Summit
At the summit of the building a generous quadruple height atrium space encloses a Sky Restaurant and Bar which will provide a unique vantage point for patrons to gain panoramic views out over the city.







Namaste: Hotel and Office Tower
Category: Future Projects - Commercial
Location: Mumbai, India
Architects: WS Atkins, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Atkins, United Arab Emirates

This is no light bill

Antilla is not just a landmark, a month after Mukesh Ambani moved in, it also generated the city’s biggest power bill for a residence: Rs 70 lakh(152,000 USD approx)

The asymmetrical stack of floors is lit-up like a jewellery box, illuminating the indigo sky, its opulence casting everything around it into a paler shade of their selves. Mukesh Ambani’s Godzilla-sized home, Antilla, has just notched up another headline. In the one month since he moved in with wife Nita and their three children, the tycoon has generated a power bill of Rs 70,69,488, the city’s highest residential electricity bill.

According to the bill for the month of September, made available to TOI, Antilla consumed 6,37,240 units of power. To put it in perspective an average Mumbai household equipped with all electronic amenities consumes 300 units per month. Ambani was in fact, as per BEST norm, given a discount of Rs 48,354 for prompt payment. The 70 lakh quoted earlier is minus this amount. Experts say the RIL boss’s tariff is roughly equivalent to the monthly power bill of 7,000 homes in Mumbai. The 27-storey Antilla, named after a mythical island, with its three helipads, 50-seater theatre, nine elevators, swimming pool and residential quarters takes up 37,000 square meters of space which is larger than the Palace of Versailles and according to the Guardian newspaper of the UK, its estimated value is pegged at Rs 4,567 crore.

“Extensive air-conditioning and elevated parking are big energy consumers,” says a BEST official not wishing to be quoted. Further, he adds, the building is lit up through the night, showcasing the bling. Though, a report in the Forbes magazine says that a four-storey hanging garden was especially built as an energy-saving device, to keep the interiors cool in summers.

Perhaps it is taking effect, for in October their power bill marginally came down to Rs 61,28461, for consumption of 5,96,800 power units. The family is among BEST’s high-tension consumer, a category created for bulk users. Save for a small part of the building which is designated as office space where commercial rates are applicable, the lower residential rates apply to the rest of the building. But even here it’s fortunate that Antilla is located where it is. Altamount Road falls under the BEST radar which has the lowest tariff among all power suppliers. Had brother Anil’s Reliance Energy been their power suppliers, Mukesh’s bill, as half of Mumbai can vouch, would have been further inflated.

Rich Beggars of Mumbai

Name : Massu or Malana, 60 yrs

Massu's Assets:

Rs.30,00000 in properties alone
Day's earnings Rs.1,000 to Rs.1,500

Begs at : Lokhandwala. Mostly outside high-end restaurants visited by TV and film stars.
Working hours : 8.00 p.m. to 3.00 a.m.
Home is : A duplex flat at Amboli in Andheri (west). He owns another 1 BHK nearby.
Family : Wife, two sons and a daughter-in-law share the apartment with him.
Day's earnings : Rs 1000 to 1500.
Assets : Rs 30 lakh in just properties. One son makes and sells brooms, while the other hawks knick-knacks near Andheri station. He has substantial savings, but would not reveal details.

Cool quotient : Massu is dressed in spotless clothes when he takes an auto-rickshaw to Lokhandwala every evening. He changes into his beggar attire near Ad Labs. During his working hours, he has a complete sway over the area. You will never find another beggar in his vicinity. He takes an auto on his way home too. Stops at Yashraj Studios for a change of clothes.



Name: Krishna Kumar Gite, 42 yrs

Krishna 's Assets:

Rs50 lakh in properties alone
Day's earnings: Rs 1500 to 2000

Begs at: CP Tank, Charni Road
Working hours: Early morning to late evening
Home is : I BHK apartment at Nallasopara, which he shares with his brother.
Family : Brother, sister-in-law and their children.
Day's earnings : Rs 1500 to 2000.
His worth : The Nallasopara apartment is worth nearly Rs 5 lakh. Krishna claimed he has substantial savings but would not put a figure to it. 'My brother manages everything,' he said.

Cool quotient : Claims he can't be bothered with money matters. He retires every evening to his Nallasopara home and hands over the day's earnings to his brother. 'My bhabhi and brother know best what to do with the money.'



Name : Bharat Jain, 45 yrs

Bharat'sAssets:

Rs70 lakh in properties alone
Day's earnings Rs 2000 to 2500

Begs at : Azad Maidan and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
Working hours : Early morning to late evening.
Home is : Two adjacent 1 BHK apartments in Parel, where his family stays. Bharat, however, visits home only once in a week. His family, which deals in school notebooks and other study material, has tried on many occasions to get Bharat to give up begging and join the family business. The Bhandup shop the family has rented out to a juice centre.

Family : Wife, two sons -- one studying in class X and the other in class XII -- father and brother.
Day's earnings : Rs 2000 to 2500.
His worth : The family apartments are worth close to Rs 60 lakh. The family also has rented out a shop in Bhandup to a juice centre and gets Rs 7,000-a-month in rent. The rent is collected every month by Bharat's wife.

Cool quotient : Bharat speaks impeccable English. He is soft spoken and you will never find him harassing people for alms.



Name : Doesn't matter, A Software Engineer (Double Graduate :D)

S/W Enggr 's Assets : Some old C++, Java, Cryptography Books worth 10,000 INR. Rest of all his Assets are based on EMI's (Easy Monthly Installment). So it's the bank that owns it and not him.

Day's earning : Peanuts :)

Working Hours : Day and Night

Family : 1 intel Pentium 4, 3.8 GHz Notebook.

His worth : Depends on the Tester. If tester files several critical bugs @ a time then he's useless :)

Cool Quotient : Whenever he opens his mouth he knows to speak only C, C++ and Java. Never fires anyone, only he gets fired everywhere. The only time he stays cool is when he gulps down two large shots of JD (Jack Daniels. Obvious someone else is paying for those shots :D)...

A Different Point of View!

Open letter to Mr. Shahrukh Khan
By: Bandyopadhyay Arindam



Your name is a household phenomenon in Indian and even beyond her borders. Your fame has put you in the Newsweek "most powerful people list" recently. However, as you may recall from your recent experience in New Jersey Airport, real life is a little different - it does not always follow the path predicted by a scriptwriter or director.

Of late, we have been reading about your opinions and statements on matters beyond the celluloid world. Nothing is wrong in it. You live in a free, democratic country and are entirely entitled to your opinion. But as a common man, also from the same soil, I think I have the right too to raise a few points that may not conform to your views of the real world.

I hope you will read it out.

When recently, the Pakistani players were not selected for the IPL, it was almost predictable that NDTV, the award-winning, mouthpiece of our Indian liberal media select you for your views and you certified that "It (Pakistan) is a great neighbour to have. We (India and Pakistan) are great neighbours. They are good neighbours."

I have a few words to say about those statements.

One may recall your effort to clarify the Pakistani team captain, Shoaib Malik"s apology to the Muslims, living all over the world, for failing to win the final T20 match against India, likely much to the embarrassment of a lot of Indian Muslims, as expressed by Shamin Bano, mother of the man of the match, Irfan Pathan. What was more embarrassing was your effort to try to defend Shoaib in a subsequent interview, "I don"t think he meant to segregate Muslims and Christians and Hindus and say this was a match between Islam and Hinduism. I don"t think that..."

I doubt whether Shoaib talked to you personally about his thought process at that time. You did not really have to respond for somebody else but perhaps you could not resist the temptation to show your brotherhood and solidarity.

This reminds us again of Dr Ambedkar"s observation that, "The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only.

Partition of India was what Pakistan wanted and got. It was painful to millions but many more millions in present India have been spared. Since then Pakistan has offered us only hatred. It has imposed on us three major wars, the Kargil insurgency, the Kashmir conflict, the series of serial blasts, the routine violation of border ceasefires, attacks on the Parliament House and the recent Mumbai 26/11attack.

Did you have these in mind when you talked about them being good neighbours?

In another interview you had tried to explain the concept of Islamic Jihad. "I think one needs to understand the meaning of jihad .. I’ve understood the essence that jihad is not about killing other people; jihad is about killing the badness in you."

May be you understand jihad better and deeper than the superficial meaning of what we, the rest of the mortal mankind, overburdened and terrorized by the inter-religious, intra-religious and sectarian violence that is plaguing the world in the name of Islam today, do. For we, the less educated, cannot really make a difference between Jihad and Qatl, between Jihad by heart / soul, Jihad by pen and Jihad by sword or between lesser and greater jihad.

We wonder, whatever its meaning may be, does it minimize the significance of the mindless killings that we see today in the name of Islam, across borders, all over the world? Does it change the nature of the killers whether you call them holy warriors, mujahidins, fedayeens or plane suicide bombers?

We agree with you that terrorism has no religion. But hopefully you will also agree with the people who perceive that most terrorist in the world today happen to believe in the scriptures of Islam. They actually believe that they themselves are the true Islamists.

The so called "moderate" Islamist, perhaps does not want to contradict them or may be does not dare to speak out against them. You have probably not forgotten the FIR against you for listing Prophet Mohammed as one of the most unimpressive personalities in history, the threats from which you had to skillfully wriggle out. Others who are not so fortunate, famous or flexible are suffering lifetime, as Tasleema Nasreen or Salman Rushdie would testify. For blasphemy in Islam is punishable with death, even for a believer.

Do I have to spell out the fate if it is a non-believer?

It is due to the inherent intolerance and exclusivity of Islam itself despite your effort to convince us that there is an Islam from Allah and very unfortunately, there is an Islam from the Mullahs

Here is an historical insight from writer Irfan Hussain, "The Muslim heroes who figure larger than life in our history books committed some dreadful crimes..all have blood-stained hands that the passage of years has not cleansed. Indeed, the presence of Muslim historians on their various campaigns has ensured that the memory of their deeds will live long after they were buried...Seen through Hindu eyes, the Muslim invasion of their homeland was an unmitigated disaster."

So why should the "non-believers" care to accept them? Why should the majority of Indians like to welcome back such disasters again?

Since partition, India has come a long way in progress and development to her current status and is projected as an economic superpower in coming decades while Pakistan is perceived as a failed state on the verge of disintegration.

What does India have to gain by offering neighbourly friendship to such a hostile and failed state?

India has never been an invader and is not in conflict of any other Muslim country. None of the wars and conflicts with Pakistan was instigated by India. In the current geopolitical situation, one can argue for the Muslim world’s grudge and anger against Israel or the west and USA but one fail to fathom why India should also be at the receiving end and why Indians should be the second largest group of people to die from terrorists attacks. Indian majorities do not have anything to do with the Danish cartoon or the death of Saddam Hussain; so why should they suffer from Islamic havoc on those occasions.

In almost all occasions of terrorism, questions are raised about possible role of Pakistan, its terror bases and its terrorist organizations, as either directly or indirectly involved. Be it state sponsored (as recently admitted by President Zardari) or by non-state actors, Pakistan or Pakistani born are prime suspect in terrorist activities all over the world. ISI has been accused of playing a role in major terrorist attacks including 9/11 in the USA, terrorism in Kashmir, Mumbai Train Bombings, London Bombings, Indian Parliament Attack, Varanasi bombings, Hyderabad bombings, Mumbai terror attacks or the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Do you believe these are marks of a good neighbour? Then what is the reason for your preaching of love towards Pakistan?

Perhaps, as you said, because it is your ancestor"s homeland, you have a soft feeling for Pakistan and cannot see the difference. On the eve of accepting an honorary doctorate from a British university, we heard you say, "I really believe we are the same ..when you come away from India or Pakistan you realize there is no Indian or Pakistani – we’re all together. We are - culturally, as human beings, as friends"

Which Pakistanis are you referring to?

The Pakistanis belonging to the land, admonished as the epicenter of global terrorism, not just by India or USA but even by its friendly allies like Iran or China.

Or is it the self-created, Talibanic Pakistan, who still imposes Jijya on the non believers or finds pleasure in blowing up girl"s schools..

Are you talking about its President class like the current Mr. Zardari, vowed to wage a 1,000-year war with India or the late Mrs. Bhutto who started Jihad in Kashmiri that lead to the exodus of Hindu minorities from the Muslim majority state of India, as refugees in their own country?

Are you referring to Pakistanis loyal to the ISI and the military who train their soldiers with only one objective, i.e. to fight Hindu India?

If your mind is concerned about the faceless mass of Pakistanis, does it also include the dwindling minorities?

Or are you just concerned about the celebrities and the social elites?

It is true SRK that we belong to the same human species but it is hard to stretch the similarities much further between "us" and "them".

We from the same original land of Bharat but we want to keep her intact, they want to break it into thousand pieces.

Our ancestors happen to be the same. We acknowledge and adore the heritage but they abhor and decimate whoever is available in an attempt to wipe out the link.

We are culturally the same. We have created the culture over centuries what they dream to destroy in moments.

Ours is a 10,000 year old civilization, theirs is a 62 years old country undoing whole human civilization.

We extend our hands repeatedly to promote friendship and amity; they give us ISI, Lashkar, Harkat, Kashmir, Kargil and 26/11 in exchange.

Do you think that the Indians nationals who died in all the above wars, the Indian soldiers who lost their lives in cross-border ceasefire violations or the Indian civilians who are killed by the ISI trained Islamic terrorists and their affiliates, in all those serial blasts, all over the country, willfully sacrificed their lives as a friendly neighbourhood gesture?

Can you face the families of the victims of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or the martyrs of the Kargil war and try to explain to them that "They are good neighbours. Let us love each other."

Can you explain why the two gunmen at Cama hospital, during the Mumbai carnage, asked the man who gave them water, what his religion was, and shot him dead when he said he was a Hindu?

If you cannot, then perhaps you understand why the majority of India does not consider Pakistan as a good neighbour to have.

Perhaps you believe that the peaceful religious co-existence that you created in your home (and we appreciate that) can be extended to the large world outside. As you rightly said, we Indians trust and do accept everybody but what you did fail to mention was that it is the Indic tradition, essentially coming out of its pre-Islamic Hindu ethos.

If you think otherwise, show us a single Islamic country where the non-believers enjoy the same equality as the believers. Since partition, the Hindus left over in Pakistan and Bangladesh has suffered terribly. Strictly Islamic countries, like Saudi Arabia, do not allow any other religions to exist. Hindus working in the Gulf countries are not allowed to practice their religion in public. Saudi Arabia insists that India sends only a Muslim ambassador. Hindu Muslim unity by and large has generally been a matter of Hindus trying to please or accommodate Muslims. One cannot forget when Vajpayee was extending his hand for peace Musharraf was planning the Kargil insurgency.

Let us remind you, your own statement "I am a Muslim in a country called India .We’ve never been made to feel this is a Hindu country."

Can you find me a Hindu in Pakistan who can reciprocate that sentiment?

Some years ago, another Mr. Khan, first name Feroze, from your fraternity was banned from entering Pakistan for saying, "India is secular unlike Pakistan".

That is the basic difference of the land of "Hindu" India from the Islamic "pure land" of Pakistan.

So please do not ask us to love Pakistan.

Please do not lump the people of India and Pakistan together. We Indians are proud to preserve our separate identity..

And please do not insult the land that gave you your life, name and fame, by claiming that her worst enemy, who wants to break her into 1000 pieces, is a great neighbour.

Otherwise it would be sad if somebody accuses you of putting your religion ahead of your country.

Please give it a thought.

Regards,

Arindam Bandyopadhyay

You Can Reach The Author By Clicking on This Link or Copy/Paste this Link:http://www.ivarta.com/feedback1.aspx?author=arindamb@msn.com&com_srno=518851&title=Open-letter-to-Mr.-Shahrukh-Khan-SRK