Nostalgia

It's been a year since I officially became a part of the Sandarbh family, a year since the day I got my confirmation for an internship.It feels like a lifetime ago, so much has happened since and yet I remember the day in vivid detail as though it was yesterday.
It was a lazy morning for we were done with our internals but I was still freaking out trying to find an internship. In a last ditch attempt I decided to call a few firms to follow up - Sandarbh coincidentally being the first. Owing to network issues I stepped out of the house and dialled the number to be greeted with Sai's voice on the phone. The interview as one would call it was shorter and more informal than I had been prepared for. The entire team sat around the phone and asked me about myseld, my work and my life. By the end of the conversation I was offered the internship and had accepted it too. I remember being completely overwhelmed. The moment I entered the house, I told my mom I got an internship , barely believing it myself. It perhaps took the rest of the day for that bit of information to settle in.
And that was that. I was a part of Sandarbh and it's been quite a journey - there were great days, a lot of good days and some that I'd rather not recall. I miss the morning meetings around Sai's table discussing work or the evenings we all spent together just chatting away. Each person had their own place in the office, their own role, their own quirks. There's so much one could write and yet one blog doesn't seem nearly enough.
Lots has happened since I came back home too - a lot of the on-going projects were wrapped up and new projects have started (some still in the design stage while others are already progressing on site). The Sandarbh family grows day by day (quite literally) and like any family, there have been some bitter sweet good-byes too. But goodbyes aren't forever and this blog is a proof of that. Slowly many anniversaries will follow and each will bring a fresh wave of nostalgia - first day at work, first site visit, first client meeting... A lot of firsts that I couldn't have even imagined. And maybe this is the first of many more blogs to come, many more memories to share, many more experiences to write about...

-Mannat 

Thank You For the Music ....

Its been a little over a year and half but it feel like Harshita has been at Sandarbh forever. So when she told us a few months back that she wants to take a break from work and leave, it took us all a little time to get used to. In fact, it didnt seem real to me at all though shes been counting backward since the last 2 months.

Its been more than a week now and its finally hitting me. Harshita is not here. 

Its a very conspicuous absence. I turn around as I always do to say something and Harshita is not there twiddling with her hair with one hand and typing away on her laptop with another. There is noone to laugh out loud with and exchange looks with when Sai says something incredulous. There is noone to intimidate and rattle the interns (and all others) with the most cut and dry statements. To top all this off, its quiet in the office now. 

Harshita and her legendary playlists are what we have been working to the tune of for the longest time now and suddenly there is no music and we dont know what to play! The Marshall must be wondering what has happened and is probably hoping that his keeper is back soon to manage him. She made me download the app to make sure that each song is played with the right bass and trebles but we have hardly been playing music and I havnt opened the app yet even!! (I will Harshita, I promise!!) 

Its not just the Marshall ..... its all of us echoing the same thoughts ..... We miss you already Harshita and its hardly 10 days! 

Take your long break, travel (dont plan it so much though), do nothing ... just laze with no thoughts, bake away (and try and send us some if you can), make more super playlists (and name them as imaginatively) and come back. I cant imagine so many things without you as part of it! Going out will never be the same .... Gigs will never be the same .... sigh! 

I'll stop because I can go on with this. Suddenly 1.5 years is quite a long long time. So many good times and amazing memories. 

Take care dude and all the very best for everything you want to do. We miss you .... keep coming back and we will build more happy times!! :-) 

A Virtual Reality Kind of Day

We had a very interesting day at work yesterday. A two hour experience of actually walking through some demo projects and some of our own projects!

As usual, we at Sandarbh approached it as we do everything else. As Arjun put it - " I could do everything that I wouldnt have been able to do in a real life project ". In his case this meant to croucg down on the floor and look under the chairs and jump into a pool from the first floor!

It was a game for Inesh ( as is most things I think!!). He walked, turned in all directions, jumped, bend, dodged attacks from the building blocks and smiled happily throughout!

Everyone was in office during the presentation tried out the Virtual Reality experience. The ones who were out at sites or absent, totally missed it all! All of us started out skeptically but then moved to being happy and exuberent! Laughing, joking and making sure we didnt bump into each other while everyone around was egging you on!

The best part I think was our reactions when we walked through one of our projects. The experience was awesome! We realised that not just will this be a great presentation tool, it will be a better design tool! We could see and feel what it was to walk through something we had designed before it was done. In many cases, we probably had not visualised it as we were when we walked through the spaces.

All in all, it was a fantastic presentation. Darren and Jessica were full of information but fun and the product, very very interesting and innovative. It started conversations in the studio about design and the pros and cons.
Another good morning at Sandarbh .... :-)

Furry Friends in other Workspaces.

We like kittens almost as much as dogs.

As I grew up, it became very clear to me that people were either dog people or cat people. But then, in college, I was surrounded by friends who had cats in their homes and over a course of 4 years, I may have developed a soft corner for them.

Turns out, most people in the office are the same.

This was proven when a litter of kittens was found in our workshop and the first reaction my colleagues at the workshop had, was to inform us about them through a series of images capturing these wide-eyed babies nestled in their arms; and the subsequent reaction Sai had was to make sure that someone informed the workers at the workshop to take care of them.

I have no doubts about the fact the daily workshop visits that we happily undertake to ensure the progress of the carpentry work because of the opportunity they provide us to work and learn at the same time, will now become even more invigorating.

As an office that has no lack of animal interaction within the working space, it is no surprise, I guess, that our extended workspace would also find some furry four-legged friends.

Looking forward to keeping you updated.

As always,
Namitha.

MS Word is my Best Friend

MS Word is my best friend.

This week began with words and has continued to be about them.

What started off as a short assignment to draft one mail, went on to stretch over half my day;
Followed by the editing of another mail;
Followed by another one-
The next day.

Even for someone who loves words, this is a bit much.

However, the only reason this sequence of similar, simultaneous activities didn’t get to me was because

MS word is my best friend.

It stores in its memory all of my words,
Allowing me to cut, copy and paste relevant sentences from one place to another.
This is important.

Ask Ananya and she will vouch for it.

It allows me to remember the way we reacted to one person, and rectify and make things better with another.
This is even more so.

Sai will tell you about this.

It allows me to write bland, barely baked blogs so that I can come back at a later date and befriend them again.
Like I did today.

I’d left this piece at ‘MS Word is my best friend’ on Monday, but only today, when I can’t  think of any new ideas do I really appreciate the way technology has swept us away.

Someone else in office might say
That Excel is their best friend.
For how else will you estimate for every single detail?

Or maybe Sketchup is their bestfriend.
For how will you pull all your walls, place your windows and see how the light enters the space;
How will you know if the design is perfect,
In its 3 dimensional way?

Or maybe, you are Rithik.
Your questions range from 2B or not 2B
To which angles you’ll see,
When sketched in 2D.

We all have our best friend.
The one that aids the way we work In this space;
Holds your gaze; and says,
What do you want to work on today?

- Namitha

Sandarbh and I

Its been a good two months of me in Sandarbh today. Starting off the blog saga, I am going to be talking about my favorites here.

To begin with, Atom, everybody's favourite in the office. He is our little child who is always ready and up for a play. His surprise sniffs while everybody is busy working or him getting pampered by all in turns makes work less stressful around us.

While Atom wants to be grab a chair along with us, lunches are my next favorite here. All of us sit done around the table, with the funniest to the strangest conversations, making the whole team crack down to laughter.

The latest tradition of Dobble after lunch makes a good buffer before we head back to work for the day.

And not to forget, the impulsive Saturday outings XD

While these are my favouries until now, Im looking forward to my further journey at Sandarbh.

- Sonali. 

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