Baker always carried his home-made diary fashioned out of old pieces of paper from envelopes, marriage invitations, advertisements and other waste paper wherever he went. Baker's ability to sketch was one of the main reasons he never needed to become fluent in Indian languages. Whenever people didn't understand English he would whip out his diary and scribble together a quick sketch to explain what he meant.
Baker always advised architecture students to develop the habit of sketching to document buildings and other things of interest rather than use a camera since one remembered so much more when one has to draw it.
Here are some collages of sketches and photographs of the Hamlet, Baker's home in Trivandrum. (The photos are not all from the same time period as the sketch depicted)
Here are some sketches drawn by Baker of buildings built by him. Also included are two of Venice and Allepey, Kerala (considered the Venice of the East). Baker had studied Allepey closely and had come up with suggestions for restoration efforts in a report.
