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In this short article, I am sharing some of the points I discussed in a panel on the National Education Policy 2020 at my alma mater, Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon last week. I argue that how the National Education Policy 2020 is the much-needed paradigm shift in the Education & Academic sector. Though top-down, as a policy, it is going to revolutionise not just education and the whole idea of education in our society.
Read More  मौजूदा विकास-विमर्श के बरक्स भी अपने खास संदर्भ और देश-काल के अनुरूप ऐसे कुछ प्रमाण हैं जो सतत विकास की ज्ञान प्रणालियों को बचाए रखने में सक्षम रहे हैं। यह शोध आलेख एक ऐसे ही प्रकरण पर केन्द्रित है और जिसकी नीचे केस स्टडी के बतौर चर्चा की गई है। यह प्रसंग विकास के अगले प्रतिमान में गांधीवादी सिद्धांतों को दर्शाने और मुख्यधारा में आगे बढ़ाने की क्षमता रखता है।
आगे पढ़ें  Separated by a thousand kilometres of land, connected by the moving water of river Ganges, Bithoor and Kolkata, both, reflect the historicity of Indian water-aligned towns. Curiously, Bithoor was the last seat for the Marathas and Kolkata canal system begins with the 'Maratha Ditch' to keep the Marathas out of the British town. Both the towns witnessed water integral to the development of their civilization. On one thread of history, Kolkata has thrived through its geopolitical location and vibrant ecosystem, on the other, Bithoor subdued as its last patron, Marathas, lost to British. In the 1860s, British chose nearby Cawnpore (Kanpur) over Bithoor as one of the major railway junctions and trade centers, which did not help the town's future. While the rest of the book navigates through the channels of Kolkata as its physical context, this ethnographic photo essay makes an attempt to narrate the embedded warp and wrath of pratha (traditions) and praja (people) of Bithoor. A small settlement near the industrial metropolis of Kanpur and one of the oldest living towns in the world, Bithoor showcases another type of cultural landscape to add to the contextual and typological richness of the possible landscape urbanism discourses captured in this book. However, despite its rich heritage and glorious past, the town, today, laments the ignorance and abuse of its dwellers and users, much like the canals of Kolkata facing now. The author originally composed the narration in Hindi, the native speech of Bithoor. While following the native version closely, he has presented a bilingual narrative here for a wider readership.
Read More The developing world witnesses material and capital scarcity in its everyday life. This condition has led to many people finding contextual solutions to problems that arise with a product or service. The solutions are indigenous, flexible, and organic and originate through innovative fixes created by the users themselves. Jugaad is one such problem-solving approach yielding quick fixes in constrained socio-economic conditions. It is a creative approach which utilizes few resources and delivers contextual results for the users. It often caters not just to need but also to aspirations through its function or expression.
Read more Do designed products communicate? How? What? Is there any scientific method to study the semantics of design?
Yes, there is 'Product Semantics'. Sharing a piece developed based only learning experience (through Prof Uday Athavankar, IDC IIT B) and teaching experience (at BArch, SPA Bhopal) on the subject. Read More Kalaa is a word from the Indian art tradition which is often used as a parallel or as a translation of the word “art.” However, the synonym is just superficial. Indology scholars argue that the translation of the Sanskrit word “kalaa” as “art” does not justify the contextual richness and historical layering of the word. The Indian roots of “to design” and “to delve into the practice of innovation” go back to the ancient texts.
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Design Samvãd 26 | Aman Sadana
Journey of a Project in a Design Studio Recorded on Monday, May 11, 2020 Hosted by Saurabh Tewari Department of Design School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal www.design.spab.ac.in Speaker's Bio Aman Sadana is an Industrial Designer, who specializes in consumer electronics and home appliances. Over the past decade, he has been a part of the Design Studios of LG Electronics, Kohler, Lumium and Tata Elxsi. He is currently working on Atomberg's foray into kitchen appliances. After graduating in Architecture from SSAA, he went on to pursue his Master of Design from IIT Delhi. His work encompasses everyday objects like Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Ceiling fans, Water Purifiers and Mobile Phones. As a part of the Design Research & Strategy team, he travels extensively to discover insights, greenhouse ideas and develop new product concepts. Just heard about the tragic departure of Prof Vikas Satwalekar, the Design Guru from NID. We VC guys in IDC were fortunate to have studied a module under him. Regret of never connecting him back during all these years in between. Sharing the three of the posters I made during his workshop on Poster Design in 2009.
Design Samvãd 28 | Kimya Gandhi
My experiments with Type Recorded on Friday, May 15, 2020 Hosted by Saurabh Tewari Department of Design School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal design.spab.ac.in Speaker's Bio Kimya Gandhi is a type designer from Mumbai with a passionate interest in Indic scripts. Kimya is a partner at the type foundry, Mota Italic where she specialises in creating new and innovative retail and custom Devanagari typefaces. When not designing, she teaches type design and typography at various design institutes in and around Mumbai. She studied Communication Design at NIFT Bombay and IDC IIT Bombay.  Revisiting the artwork by Laurie Baker which he made out of waste. All the collages followed a simple visual rule, go mangoes. See more at http://dsource.in/gallery/mango-mania
 2020 CAA-Getty International Program Participants, photo by Stacey Rupolo.
Front row, left-right: Julia Waite (New Zealand), Saurabh Tewari (India), Daria Jaremtchuk (Brazil), Ali Mahfouz (Egypt), Akande Abiodun (Nigeria), Aleksandra Paradowska (Poland), Iro Katsaridou (Greece), Priya Maholay-Jaradi (Singapore), Giuliana Vidarte (Peru); Back row, left-right: Valeria PazMoscoso (Bolivia), Nora Veszpremi (Hungary/UK), Eiman Elgibreen (Saudi Arabia), Pedith Chan (Hong Kong), Mariana Levytska (Ukraine), Daniela Lucena (Argentina), Katarzyna Cytlak (Poland), Daria Panaiotti (Russia), Jean-Arsène Yao (Côte d’Ivoire), Irene Bronner (South Africa); Not pictured: Ganiyu Jimoh (Nigeria) Today, I presented a lecture, Designama: Shifting Positions of Design in India, at the New York University, 4-5 pm, 18 Feb at IDM, Room #324, 370 Jay St., Brooklyn, Department of Technology, Culture and Society, NYU. Thanks to Ahmed Ansari for hosting me at New York. Today, I reflected on 'Critical Pedagogy in Design in India' in the Panel on Design Pedagogy at College Art Association and Get International Program organised at School of Art Institute of Chicago. Our panel included Pedith Chan (Hong Kong) as the Moderator and presentations by Dr Priya Maholay-Jaradi (Singapore) and Eiman Elgibraan (Saudi Arabia). Thanks to Ali Mahfouz and Pearlie Rose Baluyut for the images.
There is no greater joy than being recognised by your alma mater — sincere gratitude IDC IIT Bombay (IDC School of Design IIT Bombay). Thanks to all my teachers, friends, colleagues, students and family.
 "At a one-day preconference colloquium, to be held this year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the fifteen new participants will discuss key issues in the international study of art history together with five CAA-Getty alumni and several CAA members from the United States, who also will serve as hosts throughout the conference."
As a CAA-Getty International Program Fellow, I will be attending CAA Annual Conference and Fellowship Program in Chicago, February 2020. As part of the School of Planning and Architecture Bhopal's BReUCom (Building Resilience in Urban Communities) project team, we presented the updates on the following four case studies being carried out at the institution:
Building Resilient Urban Communities (BReUCom) is a project funded under European Union Erasmus+ Program in the field of Capacity Building in Higher Education. SPA Bhopal has collaborated with Danube University Krems Austria, University of Twente, KRVIA Mumbai, SPA Vijayawada, NIT Hamirpur (HP) and the Indian NGOs SPARC and CURE to develop case studies, courses and professional development programmes in the emerging field of Urban Resilience. Note: This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Presented two short papers during the Hyderabad Design Week at World Design Organisation @worlddesignorg ' s Research & Education Forum, Humanising Design, at Indian School of Business, Hyderabad on 10 October 2019. My first paper, Towards an Ontological Expansion of Design: Thematic Threads to advance the next Design Education Paradigm, elaborates three thematic threads, which Design Education structures and networks can pursue to advance the next paradigm. Further, through researching these under-explored positions, and exploring their inherent components, it can work towards creating new forms of knowledge in design research. As the Ahmedabad Declaration of 1979 remains a significant event in the discourse of design for development, my second paper, Design for Development 2.0? Revisiting the Ahmedabad Declaration, illustrated how the pedagogy, project and discourse of IDC and NID were conceptually aligned to the spirit of Ahmedabad Declaration of 1979. Image Credits: WDO, Anmol and Harshali
Image Credits: EPCO
So, after the eight-month long exposure to Gandhian ideas it was the time to give back to the forum at EPCO. The programme, Gandhi Prasang (Gandhian Eco-philosophy Seminar), was organised at EPCO Bhopal to present our ideas to the jury and co-learners. I presented our ongoing work on the Ziro Valley through the Gandhian Lens. For a larger dissemination, I chose to present my work in Hindi as जीरो घाटी: गांधी के ‘सपनों के भारत’ की एक जीवंत कार्यशाला. The seminar was followed by the Award ceremony on 2nd October at the iconic Minto Hall in Bhopal. The Keynote was delivered by former Environment minister Shri Jayaram Ramesh, who also distributed the certificates to all the Gandhian Eco-philosophy Fellows. Visited HfG Ulm, the Gangotri of so many post-war design objects, pedagogical approaches, and service/system concepts. It's unfortunate that this iconic Design School closed in 1968. However, it's ideological variations are all over the world including NID and IDC IIT Bombay in India.
Ms Sushma, an educator at the Nai Taalim Centre, along with Mr Adwait, an educator from Bengaluru working in Sevagram, hosted us at the Nai Taalim School. The participants witnessed all the laboratories dealing with life skills including spinning, knitting, cleaning, farming, drawing, craft etc. and its integration with the mainstream academic structure for the students at the school.
Made in the memory of Shri Maganlal Gandhi, one of the nephews of Bapu, Magan Sangrahalay (museum) houses the artefacts related to Mahatma Gandhi. We interacted with Ms Vibha Gupta, the chairperson of the trust looking after the museum, about various issues of development and sustainability in relation with the philosophy of Bapu. Then a volnteer took all the participants around the live craft section of the complex, Magan Khadi. Participants witnessed not just the traditional methods of spinning and dyeing but also the innovative products like knitted T-shirt, real-leaf block prints etc. Mahatma Gandhi has been an iconic and omnipresent figure in India. Like, many of my co-citizens, I know a bit about his role in independence, his philosophy and writings. However, personally, there was no enquiry into the spaces he lived in. Thanks to EPCO Fellowship, I was able to visit the historical sites associated with Gandhi in Sevagram and Wardha. I further realised that I have seen his other residences, in Phoenix, and at Sabarmati. In this series, I will present snippets from Sevagram and Wardha. Again, the idea is to understand the Gandhian philosophy through spaces, objects and practices.  Sevagram Gandhi Ashram The Sevagram complex is made up of four significant buildings, including the Aadi Kutir, Bapu Kutir, Baa Kutir and Jamnalal Bajaj residence. Aadi Kutir was the first building to be made where Mahatma Gandhi stayed first along with his peers on the invitation of Jamnalal Bajaj of Wardha in 1936. Interestingly, Bapu limited the budget of the building to Rs 1, so it had to be made using the local material procured from the site. It is a minimal assemble of habitat spaces with ascetic materials like local timber and mud. The low ceiling height with the harmonic pillars around keep the experience serene and humble. This place witnessed historical meetings with many luminaries from India's freedom struggle. Later, with the larger influx of visitors in the setup the other huts were made. Its story reminded me of great suggestion to the architect Laurie Baker about using the building material from close vicinity. Perhaps, the Aadi Kutir was the reference. The whole complex conveys a spiritual emotion through its grounded planes and landscape. Every other second, I felt Gandhi was present around. The gravel on the ground and walking barefoot around was a tactical experience of the space. The objects kept in the residences manifests the simplicity of Gandhi's everyday life. PS: The early morning prayer at 4:45 a.m. was heavenly. I strongly reccommend attending it, if you plan to visit Sevagram. Designed by Architect Christopher Charles Beninger, the Bajaj Science Centre at Wardha is an innovative initiative to encourage and infuse the pragmatic aspects of science in young minds. Around 500 students from Wardha region enroll in the various modules of the Science Centre to learn the practical and creative aspects of science. They focus on learning by doing and creative learning where children are taught concepts of maths and science through fun activities and games. There are dedicated labs for each discipline of science including Physics, Mathematics, Astronomy, Chemistry, etc.
I think its one of the most meaningful initiatives in Science Education in India. Bajaj Science Centre is the model which can be implemented in various other fields like Design.
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