Jumpstarting Into Design!

Hello Folks ???

My name is Sidhant ?? and I am here to share my journey with you about my life experiences as a designer, designpreneur as well as a fellow human.

Have you ever felt happy recalling, reliving, and rewinding certain memories of the past? Have you tried to just think about it in your brain while sleeping? How does it make you feel?

We all have amazing stories to tell from the past, but how many of us actually talk about them and document them? Would you like to document your story and learnings from the same?

I was born in Kota, Rajasthan, India. A place surrounded by "coaching institutes" for preparing for IIT-JEE. I was an extreme introvert kid, and trying to score well in exams to get some tangible/intangible rewards from friends and family was my full-time job.

Our education system made me an obvious candidate to prepare for JEE exam, I did not know really know about what engineering meant, I wanted to become a computer engineer and astronaut and travel to Switzerland. This desire was obviously based on an uncle who used to get me currencies from the overall world. Preparing for this examination I believe has been the best part of my life wherein I was in extreme self-control, and passionate about a certain goal.

Meeting the right mentors is a tough thing to find, I feel lucky I was having the opportunity to meet different people and find the right mentors who taught me Maths, Physics in a simple, relatable manner. I try to stay in touch with those folks often. Preparing for any such examination, actually what it does is it makes you stronger mentally. I always felt I was too privileged and should give my best to be in a position to help other people in the world and not live life just for self-interest.

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to get into IIT Guwahati. Get some nice exposure to living life, surviving, making friends, and getting out of my comfort zone to become an ambivert. I never had an inclination towards being in a design department at IITG, as i was not even aware of it. Though connecting the dots backward, i find I always used to be part of art and creative competitions in some summer schools around me. My mother used to be involved in all kinds of painting art as a hobby, and I found it so relaxing and fun.

When later I find that Design enables you to use both creative and analytical thinking to solve problems, it all just made sense. The creative side from childhood, the aspiration to become an analytical engineer, and an innate need to solve the issues of people. Sometimes one has to go with the flow with their own life!

Most of the skills and roles I have today, I never planned to get them. It just happened through several mistakes I did and through embracing certain opportunities at the right time. I got this opportunity to solo travel to Switzerland, and other EU cities for an internship in 3rd year, I think that changed my perspective towards life much deeper. It also made me realize very important skills to have in writing, research, and communication. Just question everything!

?? Here are some pointers which might help you till now to summarise.

- If you are privileged, you can work harder to help other people by creating systems.

- If you communicate less, start communicating more. Need not be verbal, communicate in your language through visuals, art, writing, etc.

- Be in uncomfortable situations, only then do you grow. Life is tough, so have some really good friends around you to talk to.

- You are full of biases as a human, know about Psychology and don't blame people, blame the problem and find the source of the problem.

- Travelling to different cultures is the best luxury you can get. Travel young, travel early. Give back to the community

Sharing this makes me feel extremely excited and full of joy and nostalgia. I hope this gives you some peace of mind amongst the never-ending content you are being wired to consume on the internet.

Sharing a glimpse of the Design Department at IIT Guwahati on Diwali 2015. See you again with some overseas travel stories, a bunch of learnings, and more about passion and mindsets.

DM me if you want to appreciate this post :)