About
What
Regain is a space where I share my work and my thoughts. The domain name came up like a subconscious lightning bolt many years ago, around the time I started noticing what was quietly disappearing. That I, and humanity as a whole were running, accelerating in some direction and in the process, losing much. Even though I did not realize, exactly what all we were losing. This name Regain was an effort to get that back. Since then, I have been trying to work with my hands, my brains and my heart as a close knit team. Most of the times, one or more of these break away. But the moments that I get, when all three of these are in sync, are pure bliss.
Regain is also an ecommerce store. Please do not put it into the basket of other stores you might have already used. This is just one person making, listing, packing, shipping and everything in between. Off course I offer refunds and returns, but please do not use it like you would do, buying t-shirts from another store.
Why
Why choose a difficult unstable way of life when I could have taken a job and lived comfortably?
The answer to that, is in the question itself. Comfort breeds malaise. Evolution has made our mind and body to always be doing something, hunting, nurturing, growing, making or standing guard. Every one of these activities, in the moment. As soon as we use our minds in finding shortcuts, there is always a hidden cost to pay.
Why get into so many mediums, painting, woodworking and so on?
If I had chosen just one medium, say woodworking or painting, I might have made faster progress. But that medium being my sole purpose, would also have come with additional pressure of having to succeed in that very medium. That would have made me not to take risks, play conservative. And so on. Having many mediums, all of which I am very invested and interested in, make all of them like my fingers. I don’t have to love one more than the other, even though I may have some temporary favourites.
This also goes with the philosophy of Karmayoga. A term I had heard many times before, but understood gradually during my one year stay in Auroville. This also connects to what karma yoga originally means — not just social service, but total presence in any work I do. Full attention on the task, on everything it touches, with no attachment to the outcome I had imagined. Even brushing my teeth can be karma yoga, if I am fully there — choosing my brush consciously, aware of each tooth, the water, where it drains. That quality of attention is what I try to bring to every medium I work in.
Why work alone? With hands?
Why would anyone prefer working with their hands, when there are cheap machines and labour available? If you know exactly what to do and how to do it, getting machines and hired help makes total sense. If you are not inclined about one product, also don’t want to stick to one process, doing it by yourself is the only way. As soon as there is a team, there has to be processes. While processes would increase efficiency, creativity will have to take a dive. I do take apprentices, if I may call them so. If anyone is interested in learning what little I know, they are welcome to contact me.
Who
I was born and brought up in Bhilai. The place famous for the Bhilai Steel Plant. Probably due to this, I ended up doing my BTech from IIT Bombay, in Metallurgy and Material Science. During the four years that I spent there, I somehow managed to get full immunity from peer pressure. I made my own path after graduating there.
Even with no degree in design, I found my way into design work. Worked with small animation studios, startups, early stage, growth stage and then two big scale enterprise software companies. Every few years when I was updating my portfolio, I would find that the websites, apps that I had worked on were now gone. While the paintings that I had done 30 years ago, were still stored safely, most of the digital stuff was gone. Even backups don’t always work. Hard disks would malfunction, CDs and USB memories would go corrupt. I realized I preferred the relative permanence of physical things, over the ephemeral nature of the digital. This was not just one awakening. I discovered what I like to do over many years, by trial and error. I am still figuring it out. This page is proof of that.
