Mirror to an architect’s heart
Proust questionnaire with a fellow citizen
She spent her growing years in a home that overlooks Humayun’s Tomb. Perhaps it was the perfection of the Mughal-era dome that inspired her to become an architect. Maliha Sultan’s work has straddled across India and the UK. Currently, she divides her days between Gurugram, where she visits her son in Sector 65, and Ahmedabad, where she lives with four housemates and is pursuing her PHD on “socially relevant architectural education.” She agreed to be a part of our Proust Questionnaire series in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences.
Your favourite qualities in a man
Honesty, understandability, adaptability, respect for others. Real courage to take this life head on. The one who reads, understands poetry, deeper meanings of life and is still humble.
Your favourite qualities in a woman.
Courage, integrity and good sense of humour.
Your chief characteristic.
I am a misfit, and always looking for the world to fit. I have no filters; inappropriate responses to situations make me stand out. I want to know and be everything, and yet be humble, like the big tree with lots of produce – jhuka hua darakht.
Your main fault.
Not being able to draw boundaries, and say “No.”
Your favourite occupation.
Being a mentor, teacher in this school of life.
Your idea of happiness.
Life is full of fleeting moments of joy and pain. And all beings go through them, everything else is transient.
Your idea of misery.
Being forgotten.
Where would you like to live?
Home, anywhere in the world. I can make my home anywhere, by just being my true self.
Your heroes/heroines in real life
Iqbal Ahmed (my Daadu), Sultan Iqbal (dad) Nikhat Sultan (maa), Ashok B Lall (educator), KT Ravindran (life mentor), Anwer Jamil (politician, uncle, father figure).
What is your present state of mind?
Perplexed, yet hopeful.
Faults you have the most tolerance for.
Forgetfulness.
How do you wish to die?
In my sleep, probably by inhaling something toxic (but fragrant) and just going away in peace.