Satabdi is a Communication Design graduate and during her presentation she recalled what her professor had said to her once, while she was at Pearl Academy. “The experiences you gain while working on a project will be far greater than any experience you already have”. Satabdi’s professor encouraged her to open her own design firm. Although she didn’t take him seriously at that time, after spending a year working as a graphic designer in New York, his words were strong in her memory. She returned to India and decided to start AKAAR with her friend Anisha.

Satabdi talked about how she and Anisha have a great understanding with each other, which helps them get good work done on time. When it comes to work, Satabdi and Anisha say that are very comfortable with the old school approach of starting to design on paper rather than the newer methods engaging digital platforms.

Being illustrators at heart, they talk about how they love drawing inspiration and interpreting the simpler things that they see in everyday life rather than something very abstract. Their style of work, being very unique has great demand. This has helped Satabdi and Anisha carve a niche for themselves in the field of Communication Design in India. They also display a strong bond of friendship which again strengthens the possibility of producing great work (usually the result of good teamwork). In conclusion, AKAAR is a young, quirky Graphic Design studio run by two super excited girls who are on a constant hunt for great experiences and absolute fun.

Written by Agnisesh Setlur

Nityan describes himself as someone who has not a bone of entrepreneurial skill. What has worked for him is the fearlessness in his personality to do everything himself: he makes the clay, builds the kiln and makes the pots. When he shut down his studio and started painting for the next six months, it gave him time to discover other interests like designing furniture, running a design workshop for children who may not have the means and interviewing senior designers. The last of his interviews was with well-known designer, late M.P. Ranjan.  Nityan makes sure that he doesn’t need to meet clients or sell his own paintings directly. He always works through galleries. His paintings are mixed media on paper, often based on sources both real and imaginary, sourcing elements from his childhood and working life.

His interest in furniture was sparked when he designed and made a chair for his friend’s birthday. He likes how this replaced his past interest in pottery and enables him to build when he feels like it, preferring not to repeat but creating specifically for someone he knows, as a gift or for a specific purpose. Nityan works primarily with salvaged wood and confesses that most of his work is rooted in the mid- 20th century modern aesthetic. His work was highly appreciated by the speakers and Anthony also observed that it portrayed an influence of well known wood worker Nakashima. While his talk reflected an extreme modesty of his achievements, Nityan said he had heard that before and agreed that it is the one compliment he loves to get.

Written by Anshul Kapoor

She started off by doing non-figurative pieces with oil on canvas, trying to portray the beauty of positive and negative spaces. Her work focused on the beauty of composition rather than very conceptual interpretations. She then brought in nudes into her style as they portrayed unadulterated and pure existence. Her art has a very narrative quality to it and it tries to showcase her life in the past, present and also tries to predict her own future. Shubra derives a lot of inspiration from nature because she believes that nature is not just the giver, protector and taker, but also the nurturer of life.

Her more recent works include birds as a new element as they portray freedom; their vivid colours are way of portraying the liberation from crises she had faced before. She takes a month to complete a piece, as each work of art has many layers of paint and requires careful planning before being executed. Shubra candidly acknowledges her husband being a major source of inspiration for her work. She paints because she finds personal fulfilment and it brings her close to spirituality.

Written by Agnisesh Setlur

Renuka had never imagined she would be associated with education and attributes it to her daughter. “Windows” was born 16 years ago with the core philosophy to break boundaries, open hearts and minds to possibilities and thereby, the child’s inner potential. The idea behind Windows grew to nurture unique potential in a world versus the ‘one size fits all’ education system.

Renuka found that if freedom and space is given children can really express themselves. If one connects to the heart and one’s inner soul, then the child would perform better. She explained how we can tap into our different minds – Intellect (Thinking Mind), Heart (Feeling Mind) and Soul (Intuitive Mind), and how ultimately everything needs to start from the creative arts pedagogy.

Renuka explained how the self-esteem of children is generally down because of the outlook of schools and society. She emphasized on the need to balance confidence, belief in self and nurture individual expression. Windows uses open exploratory spaces, where children can make choices. Children are given the freedom to express, encouraging ownership and decision-making. The focus is on appreciating each person rather than ranking performance. The facilitators encourage children to have critical thinking and exposure to different materials, nature, habitats and crafts is given.

Activities using singing bowl, music and meditation help children get more centred and have a deeper connection with their inner voice increasing their intuitive ability and senses. A calm ambience helps children perform and do much better than expected at their age. Focus on values such as gratitude is given to develop compassion and acceptance. Practices to develop mindfulness, allows children to become confident and lowers stress levels.

The results are evident according to Renuka. She shared how these children are visually strong, creative and capable of divergent thinking. They are more self-aware and environmentally sensitive. They also want to contribute to making this world a better place to live, and look at a wider choice of professions that can make a difference. In turn, they transform their parents. Renuka shared examples of the creative works the children have done and their stories. Some have gone into alternate education and some are writers. Windows has transitioned from being a hobby class to transforming the core of the child to grasp universal values. From the child-focus, it has also reached out to parents and teachers, and even done visioning exercises for corporates.

Written by Deekshit Sebastian

Originally from Gaya in Bihar, Usha is the youngest of 6 siblings – all of whom moved out to study in different parts of the country. Her father was a garage mechanic and her mother a homemaker who also harvested grain. Usha was the first to start her own foundation Samoolam – Awakening Gaia. Her aim was to give back to the roots through her radical establishment and this has been her leading accomplishment. Samoolam aims to improve the lives of the women in Bihar. Here, training in beautiful and intriguing hand-crochet techniques is given to rural women using low investment in terms of equipment and raw materials. The final products such as crochet jewelry, bags, belts, scarves, stoles, pouches, bookmarks and a range of other items are then sold in exhibitions around the country including in outlets of Fab India, Anokhi and other branded stores.

The set-up which Usha started at her father’s garage in Gaya has today grown to many branches with an escalation of women joining the group in Bihar and now in New Delhi. During the Forum, Usha quipped that she is neither a boss nor an employer at Samoolam. The women in the group learn from each other’s mistakes and are diligent about keeping track of their daily tasks. Usha’s ambition is to make leaders who are equally responsible for running the organization and take Samoolam forward with their own hard work.

Written by Tushar Singh