Altering Our Course.

In these memoirs of daily life that we put up on our blog, we often forget to mention half of our story: the half of the story that depicts the realization of the work that is done within the four walls of our office. What I’m talking about, is the substantial chunk of behind the scenes action that unfurls on our various sites- slowly, but steadily.

As students, we are often told that architects are ‘the creative folk’; the people who design but don’t necessarily need to get into the nitty-gritty details of the actual construction. But that is so untrue! I don’t pretend to know how other places work, but that is definitely not how we work. There are an equal number of people on site, as they are in office- scheduling, helping, directing and facilitating the work that needs to be done. When I tell you that I hadn’t seen one or two people from our office till yesterday but knew about them and the projects they were working on, I’m not joking. This can be attributed to the constant stream of messages that pour in on our office chat, day in and day out, from 8am to even 9pm, detailing the progress, and addressing the issues that inadvertently arise on site.

The reason I am writing about this today is because, as an office, we strive towards learning and growing to the best of our abilities and that can only happen, when we learn from our each other and the people around us. And so, starting from now, we will try to split the focus of these blogs between both our office lives- the indoor and outdoor ones.

Hope you’re as excited about this as I am,
So long,
Namitha.

Architecture a 24/7 job

Writing a blog post is a little like driving. You could study for months, read a billion articles on the driving, regulation and how to change the gear. But nothing could prepare you for the real thing. That is sitting behind a wheel and driving through the city traffic, i.e. the Indian city traffic.

I would say Architecture would be the same in this matter. You can spend five years learning about this profession but nothing really prepares you for the 24/7 commitment the job requires. This has come to my notice as I continue my internship at Sandarbh. Recently Sai went out of town with his family to celebrate Vishu. And though he was away he still was always in contact, messaging on our group and giving instruction. Same went for anyone in our office. Even though we would take an off we would volunteer to work on our assigned duties.

Yes, people "volunteer" to be the key word here. We opted to work from home. And I realized it was because not only was each one of us is dedicated to our duties but it is because we cared.

Architecture is a 24/7 job. It is something you hear everyone say. But what they don’t tell you is that it isn’t a 24/7 job that you have to do, it is a 24/7 job that you would want to do.

Best Wishes

So today I was assigned with the task of writing a regret letter for the next batch of interns who were not selected through the process. And though I kept on telling Ananya that it should be short and sweet, for some reason or another she kept of telling me it shouldn’t be that. It shouldn’t be two lines telling the students who are starting with their architectural dreams that they are not good enough for an office.

I kind of agree. Rejections can be hard. And often painful. Infact according to a psychology study, rejection and physical pain seem very similar to our brains.

If words can be used to make people feel, why not have them feel a little better about themselves? Along with a minor setback why don’t we tell these amazing people that life still goes on, and so should your dreams!

This is to all the people who couldn’t make past the first level of selection. Our selection process is quite unconventional than other offices. We like to work with people who help us improve our practice and bring in fresh new ideas and enthusiasm.It is because we have a limitation in terms of number that we were not able to select you and not for the lack of your abilities.  I wish you the best of luck in life. And may we cross paths in a higher note once again. 

Best Wishes

Find your Tribe

In general terms inspiration is thought of this mystic force that hits you from time to time and just all the problems in your life gets sorted. It’s something that “comes along”, something you have no control over. Of course you can always wait for inspiration to strike and just work on other things, however what happens in case of a deadline? Or you need to get a project started? You can’t just sit around for this mystic force to strike! You have to go and make things happen.

You can find inspiration in almost everyone and everything.

Here is what I propose.

Surround yourself with people who share your passion.

At Sandarbh, believe me when I say, no two people are the same. Everyone is different, with different talents and hobbies.

Drashti makes amazing drawings.

Meghna is the sketcher.

Rambo wants to start with this carpentry hobby.

Ananya is the well read one.

Aafreen is the hustler.

And the list goes on and on and on.

However no matter how different we all may be we share the same love and passion for architecture. And so working in a symbiosis we not only achieve our goals but also have fun while at it.

We inspire and motivate each other constantly. And that is what keeps us moving forward.

So find yourself a group of crazy people who share your passion. 

Find your tribe. 

No matter how colorful they maybe, it will be worth it!