Have you heard about the young lady who completed her engineering degree and landed herself a plum job with Infosys – only to follow the calling of her heart and chuck it all up to pursue formal studies at India’s best design school and then take up a career in lifestyle and artistic design ?
Such events are rare but they do happen. And passionate creative artists like Sachi — make sure they do ! And folk like us get lucky !
On a crisp, chilly winter morning – while eagerly looking forward to meet with Sachi – I was intensely curious. And when a charming young lady walked up and said hello – one did a bit of a double take. The traditional image of the ‘arty’ artist – went flying out of the window. Gracefully attired in a traditional silk sari with a Warli motif border – Sachi could have very well been one’s favourite sister !
Sharing her life story with us – Sachi told us about her childhood – growing up in Uttar Pradesh in a traditional family – where career choices were limited to medicine and engineering. Being squeamish about dissection – Sachi opted for engineering and completed her B.Tech degree and was snapped up by Infosys to work for them.
But Life had other plans. From her childhood – Sachi nurtured a deep interest in art and craft – which she manifested with her own artistic creations – made for family and friends. She dreamt of having her very own studio – where she could express her creativity. The deep and intense desire to follow her passion for art – was too strong to ignore and the security of a well paying job seemed less attractive.
Egged on by her seniors at work – Sachi applied for admission to the prestigious National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and was selected for the course with a specialisation in Glass & Ceramics.
The surprising part was that at that time NID would actually look out for students with backgrounds in engineering and architecture – in order to ensure that great and aesthetic design was also functional and practical in its use.
Being a creative artist at heart and possessing the discipline of an engineer – Sachi – of course, fitted the bill perfectly and found her groove – as they say. Her years at NID were the wonder years where she was deeply immersed in doing what she truly loved. Apart from the innate sense of freedom in terms of lifestyle , there was inter-disciplinary learning, exchange programmes with other universities and life-long relationships that were forged.
Her design diploma project towards the completion of her course was in the tiles industry – where she worked with graphics and hand crafted products. Marriage and motherhood did not slow Sachi down – and she continued her work – as an independent creative professional – crafting lifestyle products from her home-studio. A big breakthrough came Sachi’s way at a large art event where her work was spotted by eminent artist and curator – Naresh Kapuria. The meeting led to a collaboration with a group of eminent artists and resulted in Sachi’s work with murals – which now holds a lot of promise for her both creatively and professionally.
Sachi believes that the desire for creative expression will find it’s way – and it is this principle that guides her effort in artistic expression – be it in her work done at her home studio, her art and craft classes or her artistic collaborations.
Working towards fulfilling her dream of setting up her very own studio in an independent space, Sachi believes her presence on the World Art Community platform is a significant step towards taking her work to a larger audience of connoisseurs. Her work is already receiving much appreciation for its stylish, earthy looks and practical usage! We are looking forward to exciting times with Sachi as we follow her on her artistic journey !
Check out Sachi’s range of products here.
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