Thanks, Janitors

Sunday morning I ended up at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), considered as one of the best design schools in the US. I was in the reception area of their admissions building where they were running an exhibition on Building Design and Architecture. The exhibition consisted of multiple rooms, covering different steps in designing a building.

The room I was standing in was dominated by numerous architectural drawing pasted on the wall, and even some on the ceiling. There was also a large (garbage like) pile of drawing and designs in the floor with disposable coffee cups, empty cigarette packets, a sketch pen without a cap, and a mop. My first guess - obviously this part of the exhibit was not done yet. They must have taken a break for the weekend before they come back and complete it on Monday.

But, there was something meticulous about the room. I was troubled to accept my initial hypothesis about the room being work in progress. There was something logical about the piles of drawings on the floor, the coffee cups, the cigarette packets and the mop!

As I was stepping out, I noticed the words on the floor - "A room for mistakes".

Completely awestruck, I took a couple of more steps backwards, and noticed the words, again on the floor - "Thanks, Janitors"

What Matters

* Disputed vote plunges Kenya into bloodshed * Bhutto's son, 19, chosen to lead Pakistan Party * The Issues in Iowa *

A sample of the front-page headlines on the NY Times over the weekend. First look, they may have nothing in common. When we take a closer look - the news is about elections, the political landscape and the democratic process. The stories also illustrate what matters in winning elections:

* In Kenya, it matters which tribe you belong to * In Pakistan, it matters who your mother is * In the US, it matters where you stand on Health care, Taxes and Immigration *

Am I over-simplifying the headlines? Probably.

But, you get the point right?