Perspectives from Sandarbh : Priya

Today I’ll be sharing with you Priya’s experiences. Exactly a year ago she was interning at Sandarbh too. Now back in Pune she has graduated as an architect. Let’s see what Sandarbh was like for her…

Me: Hi Priya! Tell us something about yourself

Priya: Hi! I’m Priya and I’m from Pune. I’m a very passionate person whether it’s about art, dance or cooking. I was a little confused about coming to Sandarbh and Bangalore in general. Madhura was already working here and told me to give Sandarbh a try. I sent in my portfolio and spoke to Sai on the phone. He was a little hesitant initially about having two people from the same college but eventually it all worked out!

Me: It’s not too long back that you were at Sandarbh but I wonder if things were different from now. What was office like for you guys?

Priya: If we talk about the work space alone, we were there for the transition when the office expanded into the garage. I remember when the architects were working in the office and I shifted to the garage. We cleaned out the space and made it our own.

In terms of the work, a lot of responsibility was given to us which I really didn’t expect. I was managing client communication which was interesting but like I said it felt like a lot of responsibility. Sai was always very encouraging though. All the informal conversations we had were a nudge in the right direction.  I had no clue about project planning before I got here but slowly we got into it. In all this, I certainly learned how to manage my time better.

Sai would always tell us not to settle or get too comfortable with what we were doing. When I came back from internship, I felt very inspired. During the first phase of thesis, with nothing much to do, I started visiting my father’s bakery. Initially I would just look around, learn a few things here and there. But with all the experience that I gained at Sandarbh coming into play, I kept wanting to make it better. I didn’t want to settle and kept looking for things to improve. For now, I’m actually considering doing a course in baking even…

Me: So tell us more about your time here. What experiences and memories have you carried back with you?

Priya: The whole experience was very interesting for me, personality wise. When I started here, I didn’t feel very confident but now I realise I can be good at communication too. The workspace was very different from a typical office, formal environment. I also really appreciated the conversations and took away a lot from them. One of the things I really learnt here was the ability to make people comfortable.

While we all learnt and explored in office, we also got the chance to experience sites – something that a lot of interns miss out on. We learnt everything from the processes on site, to managing the workers, to implementing new materials and technologies. When we went back for the jury, this exposure to site was also really appreciated by the jurors.

And of course, if you work hard you must party hard. One time we went out to celebrate a birthday and I have fond memories of a fun night that ended with lots of laughs and hugs. And the little parties we had at office itself were incredibly fun too. I still get jealous when I see pictures of the fun and parties on Instagram!

Me: Any last words before we sign off for today?

Priya: I have to say that a lot of my experience here was enhanced by the people around me. Madhura was the reason I ended up at Sandarbh and the whole experience brought us closer together as friends. We even found our groove working together as a team. From starting to end we got to work with a range of super interesting, amazing people whether it was Jerry and Aditi along with the extemely talented Rambo in the beginning or the batch of architects and interns who joined towards the end of our internship - Ananya, Harshitha, Kavi, Kiri, Shaz and Afreen. For us the first three months was all about learning and the last one was all about handing it all over to the interns who came after us. Overall, it has been one amazing journey!

Talking to Priya, I could relate with a lot of her experiences. As diverse as the perspectives from Sandarbh are, in essence maybe they’re not so different at all…

-Mannat