Why See Desi in Design

It must be around the late 80s or early 90s; my friend's uncle from the US was planning to visit them with his American wife. This was big news. It was not only the family but the entire colony who was curious about the visit and discussed the topic daily. On the day of arrival, everyone dressed nicely and waited at the gate to get a glimpse of the American Dream. We felt privileged, as our home was next to the host and may have a close view of this once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. The white amby stopped before the friend's house, and the couple came out. Uncle was a bit shorter than his 6ft American wife (of course, we had a very critical discussion on that subject amongst friends). Uncle was wearing a suit, and to our surprise, Aunty wore a blue sari (...and that was a popular topic of discussion for months amongst the women). For lunch, the cutlery from the showcase came out with spoons and forks. While everyone was appropriately instructed on how to eat /behave, my friend picked up the Basundi (condensed milk sweet) bowl and put it into his mouth. He was about to slurp it; his brother kicked him below the table and hinted at using a spoon. My friend smiled at his brother and signalled his eyes towards Aunty; she was happily slurping basundi directly from the bowl.

Like my brother's friend, we invariably seek Western approval or confirmation on varied scales in our public, personal and professional lives. It gives us great pleasure when we hear Westerners trying to speak our language. Still, if we mess up Queen's English even a bit, there are always vigilant local colonial police around us, constantly correcting our accent, spelling, or pronunciation. My design career was no different; I tried hard to fit into the Western way of life with my designs, even though I had never stayed in Europe. To win notable design awards meant I belonged to the designer club that understands that exemplary life. The belief that ParDesis are more intelligent than us has been deeply rooted in our system. But this has changed significantly in the last decade/s, and we will continue to discover the meaning of Desinness in our present and future world.

I see Desi

I see Design.