Rajiv Sethi
Chairman
Gemini Group Of Companies
If i remember correctly, the western side of the globe was predicting a technological doom for industry while Indian software and body shopping firms were busy making merry on the back of the Y2K fear. That was the year when we first met Zubin. At Gemini, we were examining the prospects of integrating our selling and servicing operations and proposing to shift to our MIDC Nerul plot from our offices in Chembur. We had great ideas from our many overseas visits and we were sure we wanted a ground + mezzanine structure. I was very sure that I wanted a staircase with a different look – one that would look business-like and yet, have the ruggedness and an industrial feel to it.
I chanced upon a picture and a short accompanying article a very innovatively designed staircase in one of India’s premier architectural magazines. Having been instantly dawn towards the design and detailing, I set about task of
searching for the architect. It was quite a daunting task to search for the architect in the era of VSNL’s squeaky modems and the sparse information the internet offered in that age. A few persistent calls to the magazine offices
resulted in a telephone number, which was called upon immediately. This led me to young Zubin at his residence in New Bombay – the installed address of his innovative award-winning staircase.
We met an effacing young lad, a treat that he still retains over a decade of friendship, with a seemingly understated sense of confidence. He welcomed us to his abode, chose his words with caution but spoke with his eyes and gesticulated with his hands while describing his concept of the staircase he had designed. He invited us to the other parts of his home and we could see that he would be an architect that would make a difference – his designs were uniquely different than anything we had ever seen before, in India and overseas.
ZUBIN’S DESIGN MAKES YOU PAUSE. PAUSE AND BE SWUNG AT DIVERSE ENDS – THE SIMPLICITY OF THOUGHT AT ONE END AND THE COMPLEXITY OF DESIGN AND DETAILING AT THE OTHER.
I cannot help nut remember what a fellow architect said about ZZ – “He ’s an MTV kind of architect”. Simply translated, it meant that he was the MTV in the age of Chaya Geet – a fresh breath of design and perspective and I have been fortunate to follow his work from the inception of his career. He broke moulds and industry norms in many ways – be it architectural or interior design and ollowed through his simplicity of thought in his revenue model.
He would not care if you spent a hundred thousand on your apartment or a million, he would charge for his design and not depend on commissions accrued from purchases made by the client.
In the year 2002, the shy Zubin introduced me to a sweet young lady from Ghatkoper as his design colleague. I came back home that night and told Sarika, that Zubin had found his mate. A couple of months later both of them
tied the knot in a simple ceremony and got back to what they love most – Architecture at ZZA.
Today Zubin, the young lady from Ghatkopar – Krupa and Anaya are family to us. Zubin remains a doting husband, father and a caring son.
He is most passionate when he is conceptualizing a design and has art of convincing his clients of his uber age designs.