@article {Nawre137, author = {Alpa Nawre}, title = {Talaab in India}, volume = {32}, number = {2}, pages = {137--150}, year = {2013}, doi = {10.3368/lj.32.2.137-a}, publisher = {University of Wisconsin Press}, abstract = {The talaab, or a {\textquoteleft}pond{\textquoteright}, has been an integral part of the Indian life and landscape for centuries. Primarily for collecting rainwater, it acts as a rich venue for multiple activities, the complexity of which defies its simple design elements. While landscape architects are primarily concerned with understanding these design elements, a study limited to the physical design of a talaab will not enable a complete envisioning of its multiple roles. The concept of {\textquotedblleft}frames,{\textquotedblright} put forth by the sociologist Erving Goffman as cultural definitions of reality, is used to address this gap and to examine, through a historical analysis, the change in ownership and management of water in India. Based on linguist Stef Slembrouck{\textquoteright}s discussion of frames as spatial metaphors, this paper speculates that the talaab landscape acts simultaneously as a space for normative or expected/typical activities and as a situational/interactional entity. The paper further characterizes the land-water interface of a talaab as a {\textquotedblleft}laminate{\textquotedblright} hosting normative activities and acting as a situational/interactional space determined by culturally governed temporal and ideological principles. The use of this model to interpret space as a physical and socio-cultural construct allows a better understanding of the possibilities for creating multifunctional landscapes embedded with social and spiritual meaning.}, issn = {0277-2426}, URL = {https://lj.uwpress.org/content/32/2/137.2}, eprint = {https://lj.uwpress.org/content/32/2/137.2.full.pdf}, journal = {Landscape Journal} }