Perspectives from Sandarbh : Rambo - Part I

So I know these blogs are supposed to be all about other people's perspectives at Sandarbh, but just for a bit I'm going to divert the attention back to myself. Rambo has left Sandarbh to start a new chapter in his life. I'll be sharing some of his experiences of the years he's spent here but before that I'm going to share a little bit about my interactions with Rambo.

Initially when we came to office Rambo was like the rendering wiz for us. Quiet at first, we would just see him constantly working on sketchup after sketchup, creating super realistic renders. Slowly he started opening up to us. One of his favourite questions to ask the new interns would be "How old do I look?". We would keeping guessing how old he was - some predicted him to be way younger, while others way older ( he would very obviously portray his displeasure for those who'd fall into to the latter category).
On our daily lunches to Gardenia we could always count on the fact that with Rambo around there'd be no leftover food. And then there's his passion for football that's at an all time high during FIFA season. In all of these interactions outside of office, we've seen a whole new side to Rambo. Fun and outgoing. He's still not too keen on talking too much, but a few drinks in and we managed to get him to spill the beans about his time at Sandarbh.

I've only known Rambo for a month and I can tell already that I'm really going to miss him, and so is the rest of the team. In fact Sai is convinced that he's not leaving for good but just taking a break. Either way I'm going to take this opportunity to put his experiences on record. Keep reading to know more!

-Mannat

Perspectives from Sandarbh : Meghna

Today was a small victory for Sandarbh and we're truly celebrating it. Meghna topped her internship jury. She had come to the office a couple of days ago with her portfolio that made everyone's jaws drop. Arjun was in a literal daze for the next fifteen minutes. While he recovered from that, I managed to have a quick chat with Meghna. Read on to find out more...

Me: Hi Meghna! Tell us about yourself
Meghna: Hi I'm from Kerala and I did my final year internship at Sandarbh. I was unsure about coming here first but now I know it was a really good decision to make. I don't usually like giving out of my comfort zone which is exactly what it was like to come here.

Me: What do you mean by being out of your comfort zone?
Meghna: So initially I hadn't found my groove. Sai didn't know where to put me. One day in the office I was getting really bored during an office meeting and I ended up sketching the scene. Kavi shared it with everyone and that's when Sai figured what I was good at. One day he teamed Dhrashti and me together. Within an hour we had made so many sketches. That's when I truly found my groove.

Me: So, what happened after you found your groove? Can you give a gist of what the whole experience was like for you?
Meghna: The whole experience was way better than what I expected it to be. Initially I was pointed out often as I was rather quiet. Slowly as I got more comfortable, I stopped being so quiet and opened up even more. I started off with electrical drawings and I liked that but it was when the sketching happened that I really started loving my work. To me sketching, space-planning, designing stopped feeling like work. I had a great time with the interns in my batch and had a chance to interact with the next batch of interns also. Rambo, Sulu, Harshitha, everyone made my time here enjoyable. Sai and Leena were great fun too. Conversations with Sai and his quotes really inspired me through my journey.

Me: Any particular memories you'll be taking back with you?
Meghna: There are too many memories really. I have seen a major change in myself and have definitely picked up on a few valuable lessons. I have finally learned to say 'No'. At one point my parents were in town and I was on leave but there was some work that I hadn't been able to complete. I prioritised the work over family and made my parents wait. Sai got rather upset with me for this and that was when I realised I had the option to say no to that work considering I was already on leave. Another thing I learnt was that one should never work out of guilt or fear. This is one of those statments that is going to stay with me through life - in theory and hopefully in practice as well.

Me: Any parting thoughts?
Meghna: I always wanted to end up marrying another architect. Being an architect couple was the major idea and it sounded great in my head. But after my time at Sandarbh I have been cured of this little thought. Let's just say my perceptions of an architect couple have been changed ;)

-Mannat 

Perspectives from Sandarbh

Sandarbh has been full of hustle and bustle this week. More people in the studio, more people on site, more people in general. I've introduced all of the interns to you guys but in all this the architects have started to feel left out. Ananya is itching to be able to give an interview - it's not the same as blogging she tells me. She has a fair point too.
So, I've decided that why stop with the interns. Why not give you all a glimpse of Sandarbh from more seasoned eyes. To start off, watch out for two very special interactions with Meghna and  Rambo. Meghna has finished her internship, while Rambo  too is leaving to start the next chapter of his life. Let's share their experiences as well as last thoughts as they leave Sandarbh. Stay tuned!

-Mannat

Full House

Finally the Sandarbh team is at full strength (and the garage at full occupancy ). Nayana and Reenu joined in on Monday, and with Clarence, Nikhil and Akshay coming in today we definitely have a full house.
As soon as she got here Reenu has involved herself with project management, to the extent that she's sitting across me with an open excel sheet and a book on the subject. Nayana on the other hand has made the processes of writing easier. The back and forth with her has led to some good ideas with the narratives. She is also insanely particular about time. If you commit to something she will certainly keep nagging you till it gets done. Even Sai hasn't been able escape this!
Clarence, Akshay and Nikhil seemed very quiet in the beginning but as they started sketching we saw another side to them altogether. On their very first day they were able to put together a conceptual presentation for a prospective client.
Aamir has also joined our team as a civil engineer. He makes site management look like a piece of cake! Ask him about this and he'll tell you that he'd love to be on site from 8 to 8 but put him in front a computer and he'd probably be as unproductive as one could be.
Yesterday was an incredibly productive day in office which we capped off with a chilling scene. Work hard, party hard was the motto. All in all, within the last month the office strength has almost doubled and we're all feeling really good about it!

-Mannat

Almost 5 weeks

The past few blogs have been dedicated to documenting the experiences of the other 5 interns as 4 weeks at Sandarbh came to an end. Meanwhile 5 weeks are almost over and soon we'll have another 6 interns joining us. We're looking forward to a full house and soon I'll be sharing with you their experiences as well .
For now, I can say for sure that the 6 of us have really found our place and I hope we can help the others do so too. I can't wait to see what that would be like. Keep reading to know more about all of our experiences at Sandarbh!

-Mannat

4 weeks at Sandarbh : Tanvi

Here’s the last of the interns who joined with me. Let’s read more about Tanvi’s experiences at Sandarbh…

Me:Hey Tanvi! Tell us something about yourself

Tanvi: Hi guys! I’m Tanvi from Nashik in Maharashtra. I consider myself to be a pretty spontaneous person. I’m inclined towards artistic fields and I really enjoy music. I also really like taking long walks and observing everything around me.

Me: So, what was going on in your mind before you got to Sandarbh? How were those impressions different from your experiences here?

Tanvi: With all the conversations on the office group and the mails we all exchanged I felt like I had an idea of what work at Sandarbh is like. It was actually better in person. Work is definitely fun. Time passes really fast as I enjoy what I’m doing. I haven’t come across a boring day yet. I really like working here.

Me: Would you like to walk us through your journey uptil now…

Tanvi: I had a very interesting beginning. On the second day of work itself I got to tag along for a client meeting. Post that I was working on mood boards for that project and eventually got to work on the space planning and designing also. Sketchup, approval drawings, working drawings, I’ve had an opportunity to work on all of these in my one month here. The continuous conversation we have with Sai have also helped a lot. It helps us be aware of everything happening in office whether it is the work on site, the project management, the marketing or the design decisions. It has also helped me understand how each of these processes is interdependent and interconnected. All of these interactions have also helped me to open up to people, more than I did before.

Me: I’ve seen some of your watercolour work and it’s pretty good. How was your experience of trying out watercolour as a medium for expression in architecture?

Tanvi: It was actually really interesting. I enjoy watercolour but it’s mostly abstract or things I’ve copied off the net. When Sai asked me to apply the same technique to convey architectural intent it took me a while to actually get that. Rambo really helped me in the process. He would just walk into the garage and tell me what I was doing wrong, he would help me out and show me his own techniques for painting. I really do feel like I have gotten better with the whole process now.

Me: Seems to me you’ve had a pretty good experience till now. Any expectations for the remaining internship period?

Tanvi: I just hope everything continues to be as good as it is. In fact, I hope it just keeps getting better. I just hope to keep learning more through the process of work.

Me: I hope so too! Any last words before we wrap up for the day?

Tanvi: I just wish that I keep enjoying the work that I get and that I keep encountering new things everyday on the job!

-Mannat

4 weeks at Sandarbh : Purva

You know the drill. This one is all about Purva...

Me: Hi Purva! We would like to begin by introducing you to our readers
Purva: Hi everyone. Purva this side from Vadodara, Gujarat. I come from a place with a very distinct culture, heritage and cuisine. I love painting, reading books. I'm an outdoor person and I enjoy any and all kinds of sports. I'm a calm person who enjoys good company but sometimes I also like to be on my own.

Me: I kind of get that from you. Even in office there are days when you are constantly working on resolving designs and interacting only with Sai, and then there are days when you're working back and forth with the rest of us interns. Tell us more about how all of these experiences have been for you
Purva: In the starting I was very confused about the kind of work I would get in office. The first assignment I got was to design a residence from scratch. It seemed very similar to the kind of work we do in college. I started designing with that thought in mind. But as I kept having discussions with Sai, I realised how wrong my thinking was. The more we thought about the design practically, the better it kept getting. I definitely feel like I understand the process of design better now. In our office discussions I also feel like I've learnt more about life, small things have also made a big impact on me. Even workwise I've learnt a lot, like for example when we learnt about sketchup. A simple concept of groups and components when applied made the software speed so much better. These one on one design discussions with Sai and the overall discussions in office went on for about two weeks. Then I also moved into working in other aspects of the job like site co-ordintation, verndor interactions etc. Going out to site has been one of my most favourite days uptil now. This gave me more exposure to overall how things are done in this field.

Me: So, tell us more about your day on site. Why is it your favourite?
Purva: This is my first office experience and also my first exposure to sites. I had a good time observing each and every minute detail of construction and analysing it. I personally found it easy to work with the people on site but then again this has been my own and only site experience till now. I hope I get more opportunities to visit sites, handle them and learn from them.

Me: Seems like you're quite comfortable with being on site. Is designing an equally comfortable experience for you? Was there ever any time when you felt stuck while resolving a design? What did you do then?
Purva: Yeah. Many times to be honest. I feel like the solutions to these times lies in making multiple options and looking at the issue from various perspectives. Sometimes the few options I would create would be similar, just tweaking around a few things, other times it would be a design that would be completely different. But from this process of trial and error a final solution definitely comes out.

Me: Any last word for our readers?
Purva: To sum up, I feel like design and architecture are all about going with the flow and following your instincts. That's how my first month of internship has been and that's how I hope the rest of it goes too!

-Mannat