Mentors & Muses
Mentors are invaluable, especially when one is starting a career with no formal training. Mentors can support, guide, help you set goals, boost confidence & are essential to growth in any career. When I made an entry into the world of interior design from a career in the media, I didn’t have the wisdom or the guidance to help find the right mentors. Somewhere mid way into the career, I tried with little success to find the right guides and then just let go when I couldn’t. Today, as I sit at my desk sharing space with literature on conservation, hand rendering & textile, brochures of ceramic ware & lime-wash, samples of stone & tile and another laptop that’s rendering files for a project in Bangalore, I realise that any success in this field would have been a definite challenge on my efforts alone. I see now that my mentors did appear along the path, just not in the avatars I expected. They came in the form of colleagues, friends, family, online forums and even as clients. Some of my first clients- older women with a strong sense of individual style- were most encouraging of my early efforts and generous with sharing their sources and in-depth knowledge of the arts. Other clients taught me patience & kindness through example while yet others, passionate about their hobbies, piqued my interest in a range of new subjects. My muses on the other hand were easy to identify and have remained consistent– the beauty of the outdoors, the untamed splendour & simplicity of the rural landscape in India, the spirit of calm within the chaos of urban India and even the personal, elegant style of a client or colleague. These pictures offer a glimpse of the work done for clients I’ve learned from and the inspiration behind projects.
Photograph of birds by: Radhika Bharghava