My undergraduate study in Architecture from the College of Engineering & Technology(CET) Bhubaneswar gave me the first foundation for planning. It made me sensitive to the world around us. My desire to search for a better opportunity made me migrate from one region of my country to another. I finally landed in Mumbai for my professional job opportunity, 2000 kilometres away from my hometown, Odisha. The migratory journey made me realize the cultural differences within India and challenged me to invent my techniques to adopt the diversity of Rural village to urban cities. To fulfil my gaps discovered in my professional Career inspired me to search for value-based education. My strong desire for good education made me get through two pioneer institutes of India i.e. Industrial Design Center, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai (IIT) and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad(NID). The two Institute of National importance introduced me to a subject I never heard of in my school career: "Design" & its role and responsibility for nation-building. Some of the inspiring teachers helped me to carve the path of my Education & Profession during my PGDPD (equivalent M.des Master in Design)at NID, Ahmedabad. I took this challenge in my Postgraduate Design project to investigate "The Consumption Pattern of Condoms in Rural India" funded by the "Ford Foundation grant". The so-called Fun project ended in unimaginable learning & gave me a chance to dive through the socio-cultural fabric of India. I experienced the view beyond the object, the impact of creation and the invisible gapes within an ocean of social, cultural, economic forces. I experienced the constant pull and pushed force within or beyond a cultural setting, trying to find a balance around that object. Few years of professional Practice after my post-graduation connected to the application of design knowledge in real life. However, after a few years of design practice, my affinity towards research made me attracted to practice-based Design Teaching in NID. My teaching career at NID, Ahmedabad, allowed me to connect the missing dots in my corporate Career. The teaching made me realize and feel about the subject. The subject that I thought to my students eventually impacted me i.e. the subjects like "Craft Design"," Form Studies"," Material Design" - made me think about human creativity and material manipulation concerning in the Indian context. The subject line "Social Trend" and "Design Research"- made me think about What influenced the Indian mindset and what Indian's consider as a development with time. The subject such as "system Design and Thinking" made me think about "what can make development inclusive".

My desire for design research & Practice further fueled my professional Career when I consciously choose Nation-building projects beyond India by NID (sponsored by - Government of India). Project such as "Design Intervention for Empowerment of women Basketweavers of Ethiopia", "Design intervention for bamboo and Cane artisan in Bhutan" was a turning point to see how Design Education can serve to development without any political border. I also realized the intention of design should differ looking at the economic and political framework. It made me realize the Designer's role and responsibility to balance the economic development and, at the same time, preserve the socio-cultural nuances. Designer's ethics helped in preserving the differences which are essential in this industrial era. The project within India, such as "Design Intervention for minority community for soft stone crafts cluster at Varanasi" India, gave an exciting challenge on craft & identity both in the level of community & geography. The current migration of minority communities within Varanasi, India, for a better life and the rapid increase in spiritual tourism within Varanasi has its adverse effect on craft identity. I also realized that "Creating & preserving an identity", design has another role to play.

"Design Intervention for Small Street Business vendor" The Project gave me another dimension of design. The whole thrust of "swachh Bharat" (Clean India based on the Gandhian philosophy, a project launched) by the government of India gave the challenge to NID to resolve this through design thinking. The team of designers/Faculty were coming from various fields such as transportation design, lifestyle accessory design, and strategic design thinking through their subject. The solution explored the behaviour of an unorganized sector like street vending and how design can fix a solution for individual behaviour, life, mobility, identity, Practice. The project also gave another macro-level challenge to resolve the city planning, economic sustainability and movement towards the clean India movement.

The design and its role in nation-building further enriched me with two exceptional courses I had taken from two different design lead countries i.e Italy and Japan. My realization with the courses offered by Poli Design, Politecnico De Milano gave me an awareness of policy/strategic-level intervention by the government of Italy to achieve "Design in Italy" & "made in Italy". The course on the "National sizing standard" by Japan gave an insight into how design needs to address the people's efficiency and comfort simultaneously for a workforce in a working environment, which will make a significant difference to the prosperity of a country.

I am convinced that design can make a difference. The application of discovered knowledge in the domain of design may bring a difference to our changing world. The achievement can target either by designing the changing Need or Crafting the future.I am motivated towards a high research culture needed for my thoughts to discover something essential in this developing world. The discovery of this hidden knowledge may be a crucial tool for actual Development for Developing countries.

Amresh Panigrahi

30.12. 2020