Pune Design Festival 2021

The India of small towns and villages, Middle India is rising. Shashank will talk about the need for a purpose led design, in all aspects of life for Middle India. This new frontier for designers in our country requires an intimate understanding of the real India, local culture, traditions and vernacular language. It also has to connect with both local and national purposes. These 240 Tier 2 and Tier 3 districts are no longer poor, neither are they very rich. Within only 30% of the total districts they constitute around 60% of our population; COVID has further focused attention on this segment.
Design of purpose will not only ease the lives of millions it will also redefine what we call aspirational today. Done properly such a design effort at our 75th year of independence will power India forward, and provide lessons for other emerging nations.

How can we use design to engage in the profound nature of paradigm-shifting and the pragmatic work of problem-solving? We have endless opportunities to respond to economic, social, and environmental crises—and the separation and wounding within the human heart. In our collective imagination, design creates relationships with all life, serving as both vessel and revelation.