River of Gold

Have you watched the movie Desolation of Smaug?

Have you noticed the way the river of gold flows through a system of channels- never stopping, never ending- till it reaches a point where the entire floor is flooded and the gold eventually solidifies to create a scarily beautiful reflective surface?

This is how Sandarbh is now trying to work.

Before you shake your head, let me explain:

Sandarbh, as an office, has been undergoing a lot of changes over the last month or so and all of us here, obviously, are a part of it:

What we initially went through could be drawn as a direct parallel to the way solid gold was melted in the movie at burning temperatures to give rise to a more mouldable, more vulnerable version of itself.

After that, we began the process of finding the right niche for each member of the office. This was when each person’s abilities were put through the grind to find the right balance between what they liked and what they were good at. Some people hit this sweet spot instantly but some found it harder to make sense of the internal chaos.

The former set of people then moved into their respective roles and began accumulating the drive to move forward on the path they’ve chosen- almost like the gold being tipped into its designated channel after being transported across the halls and through as many spaces as required to reach its destination.

What will come next is the culmination of all these tiny streams, overflowing and spilling over into the realm of collaboration to create one smooth outer surface, the intricacies of which are only visible to those within but the beauty of which, is accessible to every onlooker.

And that, from my understanding, is where we’d like to be.

Is it time consuming, energy sapping and tough on everyone? Yes.
Is it worth it? Most Probably.
Will we succeed?
That, only time will tell.

But I’m pretty sure that this process of optimization, communication, and identification of the gaps in the system is well on its way to make us a much more cohesive office space.

Looking forward to the next few months,
Namitha

Gradual Destruction and Constant Upliftment.

It has been about 3 days since our little experiments pertaining to the systemization of the office structure have begun and the mood in the office has shifted. The past few days have seemed like high tension, high stakes days for most people. There is no denying that by the end of the day we are so mentally obsolete that I, for one, don’t know whether to feel exhilarated or just exhausted.

This shift in atmosphere is not something anyone can ignore or even leave unnoticed. We did what we, as an office, always do- had a conversation that involved everyone that was in the office at that moment. The end result of this was the decision to start splitting roles and delegating work to establish the next step in this organisational process.

The good thing about this, if we are able to achieve it, is that eventually all the pending work would be done once and for all and from that point onward, there will only be a sustainable amount of work each person has to do. The flip side in my head, however, is that this isn’t an easy exercise to do as the outcomes are far too varied and probably even extreme:

One outcome could be that each of us, being unsure of how much the other person will be able to complete, will end up delegating the bare minimum. The other way would be that we just pass on everything that we can’t do leading to an extreme testing of the patience and work capacity of the last person on the hierarchical ladder.
Either of these methods would set us up for spectacular failure.

The only positive solution to this activity would be to follow a balanced approach that relies on gradual change of systems rather than a sudden upheaval of habits that have been inculcated over a long period of time. 

How we reach this balance is a whole ‘nother story altogether- One that I will share with you, as and when we progress forward.

Stick around, it seems like it is going to be a bumpy but crazy ride!
Namitha.

Baby Steps.

The office is alive.

That’s the only way to describe the past few days. After discussions upon discussion and talks upon talks, it finally feels like we’re going somewhere with our work.

Don’t get me wrong. We never stopped working, but we’ve only started working, very recently, with gusto. Almost all the deliberations we have nowadays are based on one word: consequence.

You’d think that there is only so much you can talk about consequences but you’d be sadly mistaken. Spend one day in our office and you’ll see various reasons to identify and link activities with corresponding consequences- not just in terms of immediate good or bad but also in terms of the manifold systems that revolve around that one word.

Another thing we’ve been touching upon is the fact that our organisation doesn’t end at the rung of interns or at the rung of people who supervise the site. Rather, our office and all that it stands for and believes in needs to reach the level of workers who ensure that all the office work is translated into something tangible.

These are, obviously, not ideas, ideals or concepts that can be introduced and implemented in one day and slowly, but surely, there is a shift in the way we view our work and as of now, the shift is one that moves us towards a better version of what we currently are.

As always,
I’ll keep you updated about the implications of these baby steps.

So long,
Namitha.

Here's to you.

If I started to give you anecdotes about the way technology has handicapped us every single day, I probably would have enough content for the rest of the year.

But alas! That is not how this project works.

I am pretty sure that over the course of over 300 blogs, it would have come up quite a few times that generating a blog every single day is not easy. What ends up happening, more often than not, is that the writer of the blogs goes around asking everyone in office if they have any ideas or suggestions and will most definitely receive variations of the same threat:
"I swear, if you ask me this question one more time..!"

Alas, desperate times call for desperate measures and those are exactly what these incessant questions count as. But some times, these encounters can give rise to some pretty interesting, amusing or even perfectly mundane blogs.

I would've never thought that I'd ever write about Bougainvillea or Cab rides or even, more recently, scrubbing the floors. So here's a shout out to the crazy stories each member of this office comes up with.

And here's to you looking forward to the answers that come because we keep bugging others with the same question,
Always.

Namitha.

Pleasant Learnings at Site

Since the time I've been working at Sandarbh, I have noticed how we are so dependent on technology. This, has been even more apparent during my time at the site.

Tradesmen make up a large part of transforming what we envision as architects to become a reality.

They are harnessing technology by completing the information loop by reporting to the organisation about every task carried out on a daily basis. Efficient Communication through phones and internet mediums between staff have enhanced the quality and skill set on a whole new level. In the same aspect, faster decisions and updates communicated through these methods have made the process as transparent and fast as possible. This kind of communication is what runs the organisation in a smooth and responsible manner.

Yesterday, one of the workers approached me with a beaming look on his face. He sprung out his brand new phone, asking me to create an account to set up his phone.
I was quite happy to see that the technological shift has been taken up by everyone.
It was a very interesting lunch break for me, which made me put my lunch aside and help him set up his phone gladly.


This made me think how the whole dynamics have changed. A few years back internet and seamless connectivity was a wishful luxury. Today the idea of being connected has become a very integral part of everyone's lives. People are ready to work  harder to get that little bit more on  luxury. Makes me think though, in a broader scheme of things, the return on investment through these processes have proved to be far more beneficial.