LIGHT AND LIFE ACADEMY – OOTY

(An adventure in space, time and vision learning with all the senses playing with the elements and nature witnessing with a smile)

 Once upon a time not very long ago in walked Anu and Iqbal to the domain of Jaisim Fountainhead. Like Alice diving down into the well of Wonderland, the threesome searched the hills and dales of Neelagiri Mountains, not knowing what one will find where? The wonder of the mountains took over the very objective of finding a space for an Institute and the subjective emotions of Nature took over and filled the senses. One would just walk, trek and drive only to find each space as fascinating as the other. Iqbal and his camera captured the very essence of Life in each terrain; Anu walked and talked the sheer feasibility of each domain. And Jaisim was lost in this wonderland.

Why, What, Where, When are only words. Reality was lost to the Senses. The Elements ruled. But one early dawn a drive past Lovedale and stepping out to the SUN in all its glory to the edge of a hairpin bend, paradise gained. There before us the Light rays of the Gods shimmered down the valley with a smile and a soft laughter of the winds evoking the emotions, and reason soon winked. THIS IS IT.

Impossible contours conversed with the minds and a design evolved. Design to Realization became possible by observing the latent talent in the local habitats. Adaptation became an Order. The Living Chaos of the “tea pickers’ shelters with defined application created spaces in motion that defied the ordinary and an Avatar morphed defying all the accepted practices. Imagination and Innovation danced merrily holding hands with economics and a revolutionary architecture was born.

The Challenge was immense and the changes that each passing phase of the Academy demanded as Time marched, and technology paved new dimensions, demanded by the functions mesmerized by the Art of the place.

Every individual who worked and learns in this space in one form or another with one material or other was and is a part of the total Life and brings Light in every step and movement. From young kids to the elderly, from the artists to the technicians, from the casual visitor to the immersed, it is a sense of magic which challenges and changes the very nature of one’s participation. LLA is a stage where one lives and loves to ACT with dedicated performance.

LLA is one rare piece of JF architecture that fuses the Arts and the Technology with Function and Form with that eternal factor of Time in Space. All those who stride these steps in the many dimensions of physical matter enjoy with spiritual contemplation. Learning becomes an Art focusing Technology to its rare heights.

LLA is not just an experience it is an exploration.

Prof. Krishna Rao JAISIM

www.jaisimfountainhead.com