lost

this post remained on the boiler for long. never knew if i should have been warranted the audacity to write something such as this, especially since i’m very new to design. finally decided that thoughts, no matter how naive, sometimes ought to be expressed, simply so that they may be read, contemplated upon, and there-by be better suited to refinement, possibly (and seemingly) for the better.

there was big talk. and there was small talk. there were idiots who said design as a field sucked. and there were idiots who proclaimed it didn’t. and then, there was…something, called me.

in principle, any field – be it engineering, be it medicine, be it political sciences, be it accounting, or be it cobbling or rag-picking – each is equally perfect. and each of them can, in a deeper, philosophical sense, be invaluable to humanity, or earth, or the universe even. and on the face of it, each of them is just a means of keeping us occupied and a means of getting us those two square meals we crave for. to live. live – unto what? no one knows.

i am very-much inclined to go down the “whole universe will get destroyed some day, so why live” route here; then again, shall not.

people have said to me that design is all about designing for humanity, and i’ve convinced myself (or, sufficiently allowed others to convince me) that design is a (figuratively-)divine field that has no bounds. i can design something as (outwardly-)simple as a visiting card, or a website, or a chair, or a car, or a naval warship, or complicated social architecture, or an entire system that will enclose within it every person alive today. and well, it’s really quite true. i can. and design is a field that’d give me all the freedom to do so.

but then – the more i see, the more i seem to get convinced that design isn’t really that special. it’s just common sense. true, the common sense does come after practising a fair-bit, and i need to be a ‘designer’ to be permitted that practice. i’ve just spent two days (unsuccessfully) trying to come up with a visiting card design for a client at my internship. i admit, maybe i suck at it. but, as i practised, and practised some more, over the two days, i saw myself get better at it.

it’s all about taking up the cause, and trying. and failing and trying. a guy with no formal education can try to sit and make something that helps rid him of some inconvenience in life, and well, he may end up solving one of the world’s biggest issues. who knows!

all i can see for now, is that i don’t really want to be (branded) a designer. i just want to be a guy who can use his common sense. and maybe help some people along the way. if that’s what you call design, then design it is.

even so, why does design suddenly feel so constricted. why do i not enjoy making tiny posters that’ll probably change no one’s lives? why can i not just walk up to dr manmohan singh and speak with him of all my ideas that’d help change the world? why do we let kasab live while he laughs his ass off at us from the prison cell? what use is all our might when we can’t even physically force pakistan to prevent erstwhile-arrested terrorists from roaming free? why…why?!!

design won’t let me achieve that. or maybe it will. i’m dazed.

–
from: 1 am. june 5, 2009.
(hence, the connections to the news from that day, such as that day’s events from kasab’s trial)

Starting out with our own little Design Firm

Couldn’t find a better way to put it, than this (have made minor edits where neccessary, like, adding commas and censoring the protagonists name):

dude says: hey… wats purple leaf?
me: it’s the name of a design firm…
dude says: hmm…uncanny name
me: uncanny?
dude says: wats a PURPLE leaf??
me: haha, yes. well, leaf stands for a lot of pure, new, fresh things. and purple does have a sense of royalty attached to it, na?! now does purple leaf make sense to u?
dude says: ohh…i guess so. so… wat r u doing for purple leaf?
me: well, i’m doing quite a lot for it… too long a list :P
dude says: like? financing it? :P
me: well, for starters…i am.
dude says: eh??
me: also, running it. on a 25% ownership basis :)
dude says: wat? how?
me: alongwith 3 other designers. we’re in the process of starting a small little new firm…just to try out…
dude says: dude, u already have a company?
me: we dont technically have one. registration and all that can happen only after we return to campus…but yes, the fire has been lit :)
dude says: NICE. who are the other three?
me: shamik, jasmeet, and aditya bandi
dude says: sahiii. yaar, wish i had the nerve to do things like u.
me: haha…well, we’re shit scared too…
dude says: :)
me: and frankly, we know that the timing is something people will laugh at us for… but well, we had to take a step, and took it. if we fail or win, only time can tell :) either ways, we’ll end up learning, so who cares! :)
dude says: hmm… true

Sub-note: We’ve completed 2 years out of 4, for our Beachelors’ degree in Design, and actually had only 1 year of Design courses (iit course structures demand for us to spend the first year doing rather-lame engineering courses). Agreeably, we’re novices, but well, that won’t stop us from experimenting with life :) Earning money is not really a priority – we hope to gain some experience, that’s all.

Wish us luck. Or mock us. As you may.

The Magic by the Shore

The little girl never really sat on the rock, instead, wandered about, along the shore of the mighty Bramhaputra. She searched for shiny pebbles, or for twigs that floated ashore, or simply played about with her frock or the twirls in her hair, as she spent her days in the company of what-ever suited her best. Sometimes she came-by along-with a boy, sometimes, with a pet, and oft, by herself.

The rock – he had weathered the river for ages, and watched as the river flooded, and consumed all that came under its swell. The rock knew that he too, would soon be gone; lost in the waters of the world forever. The girl would forever remember the rock, even as she would grow into a fine young woman, go along her way, and travel the globe, unto newer shores, and greener pastures.

The girl was a dreamer. And nothing consumed her more thoroughly than planning her wedding. She was a pretty, dainty lass, one of the few that came by the shore. Naturally, she was doted upon by many; those who came upon the beautiful lands, from places afar. The lands – yes. Legend had it that a magical lore nested in these ancient lands, and blossomed along the river’s shores, for the young to wrestle success and wisdom from.

Her heart quivered, and forever did her decisions elude her. Many a boys’ offer did she accede to, only to let her emotions crumble away soon-after. Maybe she was as naive, as fickle, as those that searched the shores for wisdom-not-to-be. Maybe she was just normal, thought the rock, as he silently watched her from his bed by the waves, upon the shore that she had grown to call her own.

For long, in her solitude, or in her wallow, had the girl shared her life with the rock. And indeed, the rock had done so too. For, if there was magic in these lands, it was thus – unto those that swayed not to selfish greed, it was the rocks that, erstwhile inanimate, came to life. Not the sands, not the flowers, not the waters that the boys scavenged – the wisdom lay embedded in the rocks that none otherwise glanced upon.

Secrets that none-else knew of, or even vagaries that none would have bothered unto, flowed seamlessly between them. Sometimes, she lent an ear to his melancholy; something that the rock otherwise withheld in abundance. More oft, there were smiles, there were laughs, and there were pleasures that their conversations lent to their lives. Above all, they were friends. And, thus, the wisdom was for her to own. For, unlike her lovers, her innocence never bore want to steal the rock’s wisdom; thus-with, only she could own it.

She mused, and did so aloud at-times, as she straddled along her shore. She oft-wondered, as to why the river hadn’t flood her shore for so long. Every year the river swelled, ever to bring death and destruction, to henceforth usher in new life – her shore, however, lay unspoilt to the ravages of time. But the rock remanined silent, in-pretense unknowing, never moved by her playful queries, although he knew the of river’s ways.

One day, as the clouds rolled in, she came by with tears in her eyes. It was not unlike her, to be disraught thus. The rock prodded in-caution, urging her to share her grief, only to be shunned away as froth. She was human, after-all – her grief consumed her, and weighed down on her frailties. She felt as though the world conspired against her, and brought upon her such pain. She sought not another’s company, and forsook her friend unto solitude. Her self consumed her, making her believe that she alone, could part her from her grief.

When she came to herself, few days hence, she made her way again to her shore, in calm and composure. Alas, she saw, that the river had flood, and her shore had been lost. Whence lay her rock, whence swept the waves the gleaming sand, now turned to silt flowed within the swollen tide. The rock, in all it’s grime, was nowhere to be found. Her shore was lost, never to be her’s again.

And as she sulked, she wondered. Had the friendship she’d estranged been the very magic that her shore had once thrived upon?

Things to Say. To People i can’t Speak with.

It’s like a bad case of a gloated bladder. I just want to say all this, but well…obviously, can’t. Thank who-so-ever that blogs were invented. :)

[1] Mamata Banerjee : Your speech today (about not wanting a Ministerial Seat, and working purely for the development of WB) blew me off. Must eat my words. I do hope what you said was not a stupid political gimmick. And if not, then well, open a school…and teach our bluddy political class a thing or two :P

[2] Lalu Prasad Yadav : I love the way you give speeches, and well, you do have a brazen-yet-classy personality. But well, suck it dude. You shuttle back-and-forth even better than those (ex-)trains of yours – apparently you’ve offered unconditional support to the UPA now – seriously? Eat dung man. O wait, u already do, don’t you?

[3] Prabhakaran : Ur dead. Sorry. Words would prove futile now :) Even so, does tata sound good?

[4] Indian Stock Markets : Did Lalu’s bulls run free today? Did he lose them too? First his seats, then his dignity, and now this? shucks…

[5] Arjun Singh : Yeah yeah oldie, ur party won. But seriously, haven’t you considered retiring. Or better, dying? Think long and hard on it. Maybe hell has reserved some seats for you. In-fact, i’m sure it has. If not, maybe you should go there and fight for your cause!

[6] Bombay Traffic : You’re too bad…Ruined an otherwise perfect day for me !

[7] Rahul Gandhi : Nice tricks dude…You sure know how to play it smoooooth…But seriously, the i-don’t-need-no-ministry trick, rocks!

[8] Varun Gandhi : Erm… (No comment) :P

[9] Varun Gandhi’s silence : You look good. Stay that way.

[10] LK Advani : Why so serious?

[11] Myself : Shut up, you jerk.

“Make a London out of Kolkata” x(

“I see no reason why we can’t make a London out of Kolkata. We have the Hooghly, the forest, the mountains, the sea… What else do we need?”

-Mamata Banerjee, Leader, Trinamool Congress, here-in

Ummm…let me think.

You need Brains. Friggin’ Brains.

And well, here’re a few more:
Common Sense. Time. Effort. And a Vision.
All of them, you obviously lack.

And most of all,

We Don’t need bluddy narrow minded leaders who know only how to ape the West.