The ‘Voices’ in my head
A reality check as I alone can weigh the blue of my sky and you of yours.
As the Liberal Arts session at ISDI concludes in the Fall of 2021, I am a bit overwhelmed with the intense tapestry of themes spanning feminism, the state of refugees, the rise and decline of religion, consent and the intersection of pop culture with society— how almost every topic the average twenty-one year touched upon seemed to swell into an existential challenge!
As we now stand on a profound precipice of two years of lockdown facing our deeply interconnected ecology of being in this shared cosmic space, we look at everything we have lived through…amid the rubble of our plans. We as a design community elevate the fulcrum of choices that we make as individuals and hope we leave a lasting mark of betterment in an imperfect world.
So Touch Me
“Love, but be careful what you love,” the Roman African philosopher Saint Augustine wrote in the final years of the fourth century.
Tanya Papneja — Sophomore Communication Design student at ISDI,- Designed ‘So Touch Me’ a packaging design-led initiative in the direction to provide youth with the necessary education and empathy towards sex and consent. The goal of this simple yet direct design is to emphasize and destigmatise sex and create an open platform for an audience to consume unbiased and unfiltered information that aims at pure respect for all past, present and future sexual encounters. But most importantly, an understanding of what ‘Consent’ means. In a predominant male-dominated space it is indeed an appeal to reason in the notion that we can exercise prudence in matters of love and Sex by letting women take the lead!
There’s Never Been a Better Time
Shrishti Sahani — 4th Year Undergrad Communication Design student at ISDI, takes a stance on subtle sexism aided by ‘Cisco’ and its latest global campaign “There's Never Been a Better Time”.
With the current generation being the most determined, quick-witted and confident of all times, “There's Never Been a Better Time”, to bring about change, to call out on subtle sexism and raise awareness so people can SEE IT. NAME IT. STOP IT. The hypothetical space within our classrooms gives wings to Shristi’s imagination as she adds experiences, impressions, memories, deepening knowledge and our self-knowledge.
She Means Business
Isha Arora Sophomore Communication Design student at ISDI,- Speculates a publication platform ‘She Means Business, for homemakers who want to work and earn some extra income, develop new hobbies, talk to new people with the same interests, see what other women are doing, and try out new things while still being in their comfort zone thereby not affecting their household chores.
India’s newest billionaire Falguni Nayar: “I personally feel when I decided to start Nykaa at 50 with no experience in beauty, no experience in technology, no experience in retail, it was all a learning curve. Even finding the right employees and investors who believed in me was tough. But it was the belief in me that I could do it, and not accepting any setbacks is what carried me through is what I can say.”
In the seasons of life, one is pressed against the limits of one’s being, pressed eventually against the understanding …that no matter the outer atmosphere of circumstance, one must lift the inner cloak by one’s efforts, or perish under it.
My religion doesn't define me
Kuhu Garimella Sophomore Communication Design student at ISDI,- realizes that it takes great culture-shifting courage to speak inconvenient truth especially in the Indian landscape where religion is sacrosanct. Even as the flags of saffron embrace the blooming possibilities within us…the people we are in the ongoing course of becoming is to unfold.
The younger Indian feels the need to have a safe space to discuss religion without the inherited parameters of permission and possibilities.
The invisible crisis
Daya Elizabeth Varaprasad Sophomore Communication Design student at ISDI,- realizes that the whole of life remains a deeply personal exercise in processing one’s own life however we are, after all, made of the same stuff.
All around the world today, people are on the move. To escape from poverty, injustice, conflict, devastation, in search of a better livelihood for themselves and their families. Women represent almost half of the 244 million migrants and half of the 19.6 million refugees worldwide. While entire communities face the brunt of the conflict, women and young girls are the first to lose their rights.
It is because we know happiness’, that we want to be happy, and since nothing is more certain than our wanting to be happy, our notion of happiness guides us to make others find their bliss!
Absolute Truth
The Indian landscape is a myriad of colours and cultures. And what lends to its unique vocabulary is the collective sense of nuances passing into the very pulse of collective consciousness where the sheer audacity of our emotional language defines everything.
Siddhi Mandora, 4th Year Undergrad Communication Design student at ISDI,— chooses this premise for a combination of creatives to appropriate both to the age and to the times in which she is angry, cynical, and confused — a combination of emotions appropriate both to her age and to the times she represents.
One of the great cruelties and great glories of Indian culture is the wild discrepancy between personal space and public space. As we have worked out and continue working out who we are and who we wish to be — a private inquiry irradiated by the ultimate question, a feeling and wonder that binds us all: Seriously? It's time for a change!
A discourse with self as another year ends and in writing what we do within our classrooms sheds light on what happens outside of them…Out of the necessity to reconcile facts and fiction, I as a Design Educator refuse to give up on speculating and as a writer refuse to give up on the world hoping to see how our temporal, marginal lives shimmer with meaning someday!
Disclaimer: All creatives are hypothetical classroom projects. All rights reserved — I S D I 2 0 21 | Creative Mentor: Utkarsha Malkar
UTKARSHA M. | Author | Design Thinker | Creator - A desire to understand the world and to improve it always remains at the core. Design is a managed process and my quest for knowledge is subject to an inquiry of the apparent, the imagined and the recalled. As I speculate and design, my liberty of self-expression is in direct correlation to my existence and knowledge. https://www.utkarshaofficial.com/
