Deepankar,

I too am one of the persons, who you represent as holding a vision of design
that is diffferent from the official version. I do not know what you mean by
the official version, because from the ground level, where I work, I do not see
an official version. I have not been associated with the CII-NID events in the
past and hence am not able to experience what you call the truncated reality.

This time I associated myself with this event because of DesignIndia forum. The
idea was first mooted on the DesignIndia forum and then CII-NID extended their
platform with a hope to capture the energy and passion from the forum. All
along the past six months that we have been planning this event, I keep
reminding all the players for the need to keep up the participatory nature of
the dialogues that have on the DesignIndia forum, as we plan this event. To be
fair, CII and NID have done a great job of keeping their egos in check.

It is upto us, the designindia community to make the most of it. I am not able
to take a cynical view that some people have privately expressed to me, that
this will finally end up being what it always is. If we can express our point
of view, there is a core team in place that will listen and assert that this
event is a forum for a free dialogue, within the framework of the topic we are
addressing. We need manpower to organize the event and we need to activate the
network of designindia to get sponsorships, so that we can get inspiring
speakers from around the world.

Please join us and invite others to help. There has never been a better
visibility for India in the global economic, social and cultural arena. Let us
make most of it and discover new perspectives for our role and our opporunties
and challenges.

Thanks

Uday


> There are several of us who have, over the years, developed 'visions' of
> design with some specific focus on the Indian context, we are aware that
> these visions may be asymetrical to official government viewpoints as
> articulated by NID or industry viewpoints which are more tactical in nature.
> It is interesting to see Designindia become a part of this in an
> organisational role, but if it is to go beyond a forum that provides the
> numbers and if it it is to become useful to us in a broader sense then it
> must ensure that there is space to articulate these visions.
>
> NID-CII design events have dealt with a severely truncated reality in the
> past, I wonder what has changed. I will watch this coming event closely to
> see if there is a new openness.
>
> regards
>
> Deepankar Bhattacharyya
> NID 1970-76
> Images Communications
> New Delhi
>
>
>
> uday@... wrote: Arvind,
>
> I do believe that we live in very interesting times, for the field of design
> and
> for India. It is not entirely true that current economic situation is
> making
> design more relevant. I would rather argue that there is a greater
> realization
> worldwide today that quality of human experience is not about speed,
> afluence,
> efficiency, productivity,fashion, and many other goals that drove economic
> and
> technological innovations for a long time. The biggest opportunity for
> design
> today is in preserving the "Cultural", "Psychologica" and "Social"
> experience,
> in the midst of globalization and connectivity.
>
> I do not want the Design with India conference to become another design
> promotion event. My personal motivation for bringing people together is to
> collectively talk about the vey issues you are raising in your email. There
> is
> a realization within the industry, amongst economic planners and within the
> design community that design is not a value to be imposed on the society by
> an
> elite coterie of creative people with refined aesthetic sensibilities.
> Design
> is now being seen as a new culture of building the material world with
> respect
> for people's aspirations for building their own environment and living
> experiences that are meaningful to them. The tone and content of discources
> at
> various design conferences indicates an eagerness amongst the design and
> innovation community to redefine its own role in the emerging global order.
>
> India and China are embracing change very fast and due to their cultural
> uniqueness and market size, have become a target of world attention. This
> conference, is just another venue for an intellectual churn that is going
> on
> at various design events around the world. I do belive that this conference
> and similar events in the future will attract a lot of people to get
> together
> and think about the future of design and innovation because India is a
> perfect
> place for experimenting with new approaches to people centered innovation
> and
> design with a clear focus on cultural, psychological and social dimensions.
>
> We hope to bring speakers and panelists who will provide great inspiration
> and
> provoke exchange of ideas that will help us discover new niches for the
> practice of design.
>
> Thanks
>
> Uday
>
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