Assam and Sabeena's Dance : No sitting down on your butt

This is so strange; felt a life that is so full of struggles that I find my own story like a walk in the 

garden. It was so heart felt and touching. And, above all, so inspiring.

How and in what trying situations people live. People….real persons….like you and me.... living lives that we are not aware of: the flow, the fight, the determination and the final win... all come together as a soul symphony... the win and loss happening at the same time...

Nothing so really seems in a rhythm yet we dance all the time..

Dance.... yes, that’s so real.. I will share the story of my maid who takes care of my home.

She is from the deep forests of the north east of India. Poverty is rampant there and so are drunkard men. Well, so she was married to one such man, but instead of lamenting and crying all her life and being beaten up by him, she decided to take matters in her hand.

Now  with 2 kids and nothing in the bank or at home, she took a dangerous call. A call that could have taken her to dirty alleys of Sonagachi. A call that could have killed her life and spirit for ever.But, as she says with an child like smile, any life would be better than the life she had. She ran away from home, society,tradition and retribution  and came to Delhi .

Why Delhi, Sabeena, I asked her .She replied - bursting into a laughter that had sounded like the wind blowing through bamboo grass.

Delhi is a city of dreams, Madam, and also I had a relative here.. so I thought I will live here with him and find work. And then what happened ,Sabeena..... she stopped and looked sad. Her eyes looked deep into the past with a far away look.

Her all so round and emotive face saddened and she said Madam, he did not keep me and said I dont know you and threw me out of the house. This happened very near in time.. in 2013.Right now....

And then she went to a road side restaurant and sat there and sat there and sat there. And then to 

her luck she met a man, person from Nepal, who told her to come with him- to his house. 

Yes yes, baba, I was scared but then I had nowhere to go and these night policemen thought I was dandhe wali and had started troubling me. So I went and thought, will stay there for a day and then go.. but no... he was a kind man I saw. 

Madam, this much I can understand about men, She smiled shyly.

 It was so clear that she had fought against everything but had not allowed that flower within her to 

wilt .And never allowed pity to sully her soul. The makings of a real heroine…….

She says, I dont know Mam but somehow I trusted him and I went with him. He took him to his kholi and I lived there with him till I found some work. When I got work I decided to have a separate home, He said you marry me and live with me... and I married him.

Madam, you are right, I’m lucky , he could have sold me but he turned out to be good man and now I am happy with him.. she said... bursting again into a laughter that sounded like a happy flute played by a boatman on the Lohit……..

She has 2 kids from her first marriage and one from her second.

Mujhe Kuch kahna nahi hai aaj

mujhe kuch sunna bhi nahi hai

Bus aaj phir so jana hai chain sai

bus aaj phir kho dena hai in dard bhari yadien ko

And Mick Jagger says : 

Let's Work

I wanna show you, Don't waste your energy on making enemies

No sitting down on your butt

the world don't owe you, No sitting down in a rut

Just take a deep breath and work your way up.

She does not know Mick Jagger, She does not know any funda of life.... but she yeah, she just took a deep breath and worked her way up........She did not sit down in the rut…..

khuda

Bekhabar  hai tu ki tu hi khuda hai....
aanken band kar ke tu khud ko toh doond....

kidhar ho aaj

yahi par, kagazo ke beech mai,
 ak adh likhi film aur ek adhoori dastan  ko bandhne ki koshish mai,
Usse jyada door kahan jaaogi mai...

amma pant kahan rakahi hai, mini meri cigratte,jaldi dena,

Ke aas pass hi tahal rahi hoon mai....

kidhar nahi hoon hai,

Kidhar to jana hai..

Idhar hi hoon mai..

kabhi dehli ke iss paar

kabhi dehli ke us paar......

Client profiles with project details

B2C Clients:  Under this model we work directly with the client with no other agency in between and some of our clients are:


1.Client : Pushpak  Construction,Ahmedabad   in 2006 :  
     Project : Understand housing Interior, space design  and landscaping needs of consumer in 2012.


2. Client : Gaming Zone in 2006
    Project: To understand India's gaming culture and develop future ideas and concept in characters and story.


3.Revival of old Jewelry Designs : on going from 2007 onwards


4. Client: NIIT, Bihar region


•Market analysis through research across the Bihar territory

•Segmentation of target group

•Prioritization of these segments

•Market behavior study

•Marketing Plan

•Identify Business development targets 

•Implemented with the help of their marketing team.

5. Colgate  & Palmolive : ongoing since 2008 

    IPR Consultancy

B2B MODEL : Here we have worked in design reserach projects through various organisation who sought our expertise in the area of ethnographic research and Design management: They are:

1 . Onio Design : 

    a)Client: LG Colour Material Finish Strategy – 2010 

    b)Trend Report 2009

    c)Trend Report 2010

    d)Client: Samsung, Korea:  Vital India Research – 2010 in 2007 and 2008

      Design Forecasting for 2010

2  Center for knowledge societies in 2010 

Outreach activities
Planning and strategy of ethnography projects
As an Innovation expert in the area of design research and communication.

Projects guided :

Eko Financial Management Firm - Usability and Trend research around the financial needs and investments of rural and semi urban India: Application design for rural and semi urban India to ease financial transaction through mobile phone.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - To understand the reasons for vaccine failure in rural Bihar and provide probable solutions and strategies.

3.With Platypus Innovation in 2009 and 2010

Project: To explore the efficacy of Cervarix vaccine and its communication among doctors and patients in urban and semi urban North India.

4. For Axiom Consulting in 2010

Insight generation for packaging design for India : ethnographic research across rural, urban and semi urban market

Our Network of researchers and trend spotters

We have an all India team of trend spotters and researchers spread over India which provide us data which is latest, authentic and relevant.

Jaipur: Shalesh Kakkar  

Chennai: Kastiva 

      

Mumbai: Bharti

Kochi: Mohandas

Calcutta: Meenu   

                   

Gawhati: Joh Bara     

Delhi: Ruchika

Ahmedabad: Preeti

Bangalore: Venkatesh

Bhopal: Utsaha

Ambala : Chitra

Indore:  Mahadev

Goa: Gaurav

Patna: Amitabh

Nagpur: Saka

Bhubneswar: Sangeeta

Chandigarh: Uma

Hyderabad: Vikas

Ranchi: Bhai Bishen

Calcutta: Sangeeta deb

Vizag: Jaydevan

Trivandrum: Neena

Lucknow: Mazhar Khan

Pune: Puja

Mangalore: Pooran

Sikkim:Sonam

Process

Insights  and innovation strategies are developed after analysis of qualitative and secondary research data using design thinking processes, trend research and creativity models.

Advisory Board

Atul Pande A graduate of IIM Ahmadabad, has experience of over 19 years in various sectors including FMCG and consumer finance. His last assignment has been as the Managing Director of Cholamandalam DBS, a Chennai based financial services company. He has worked in Citigroup, GE Capital and P & G in various assignments previously. He is currently MD of Tensports.

Mr Atul Tandon: A graduate of IIM,Ahmedabad, He started his career with Hindustan levers and has also worked with brands like Cadburys. He has been Managing Director of J L Morrison Pvt Ltd for seven years.

He has been the Director of Mudra institute of Communication, Ahmedabad and currently he is a freelance brand consultant and is in the advisory board of many institutes.

Ms Meenakshi Neylim: A graduate NID, Ahmedabad. She has done her PhD in product innovation from Texas University and since then has worked with FIAT, Italy and has worked in various areas of innovation and user research in the automobile industry. For last 5 years she has been working as a consultant and has worked with various brands like Renault, Kodak Films, and Colgate and Palmolive.

Professor Robert Gerrad : A graduate of Royal college of Art , London, He has around 40 years of work experience in this field and has been a follower of design management for last 15 years. He has many books to his credit and has worked with various international and national brands in his life.. He has taught in BIAD , UK for more than two decades and

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