My Reflections....

I wonder as I write this summary, what drew me and us to Rasulabad? Is it our fascination for the natural and the original? Is it curiosity to learn about this something that fascinates? Is it an assumption that what we have to share is useful and valuable to rural folk? Is it the desire to do something meaningful? Is it to sensitize young designers that some part of their design work must be for a bigger good?

With our urban design skills, I believe we are incapable of solving problems of rural lives. And if we wait for designers to design for the needs of all, we can be waiting until the end of time. 
So who will solve their problems? They don't know design theories or knowledge about materials or creative visualization or any of the other tools we so fortunately learn and the skills we acquire in design school, in order to be able to make this world a better place. But they know their context and they know it best.

'Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones' is a quote by Herb Simon, nobel laureate, economist, cognitive psychologist and Carnegie Mellon University professor. I resonate with it because I firmly believe there is a designer in each of us. And there is much value to be had in 'democratizing' design, not just in our corporations but also at our grass roots.
Extending our collaborative design approaches and multidisciplinary practices of today, perhaps we can initially solve rural problems together. And thereafter, keeping with the adage 'teach them to fish', we can create impact through design, by helping them make their lives better through their own design efforts and towards self reliance (swadhin). It is a collaboration of our design tools and their contextual skills. And that is why I have named this blog 'swadhinvillage'.

I thank my students who participated and helped realize this venture that began as a wild idea. In participating passionately and wholeheartedly as they did, I know they will have grown. I thank Sharmila Sen for jumping hoops to get here to lead one of the key workshops, with only faith in my idea. Thanks to Tathagata for his wonderful and joyful documentation. I know he enjoyed the sights and sounds but we enjoyed his presence more. I thank Koel for being there, she touched all our hearts with her connect with the children. And I thank Satyaki for his support, which spurred me to conceptualize and realize this venture...                                           


5th May, 2015