Re: obit: Laurie Baker, "Master mason"

As I said earlier, Baker often worked alone. He was also a good mason. 
On the day he won the World Habitat Award (1992), I was so happy that I 
had to be the first man at his door to congratulate him. I reached there 
early in the morning, at seven, but Baker had already left. His wife 
told me I could catch him at his worksite, a few kilometres away. When I 
went to the site, there, to my amazement, was Baker, perched 
precariously on a sloping roof winding wires, immersed in his work. I 
have seen such an attitude towards one's karma only in one other person, 
E.M.S. Namboodiripad.

Laurels and awards hung lightly on him. At several places in north 
India, in New Delhi, in Ahmedabad, I have seen people revering Baker. 
But not in Kerala, where he made his home. He was never invited to teach 
students. He was ignored by the architects' bodies. Some even 
"pooh-poohed" him as a "brick-layer". His greatest wish, to be an Indian 
citizen, was granted late, only in 1988. He was subsequently awarded the 
Padma Shri. The British government honoured him with the Order of the 
British Empire. But for Baker, becoming an Indian citizen was his only 
true achievement.

cont'd....
http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20070420004012600.htm