11th of the Month special - Pranav Kumar, "Not JUST a designer".

Hello peeps of the internet!

   People who know me know that I have the utmost respect for those who work in the creative fields, like writing, painting, etc. So when it comes to someone who is harnessing technology to put forth a much more visually appealing presentation, a modern twist to normal designing, I was eager to find out more. By sheer happenstance I made a friend on Facebook a year ago, who is a brilliant graphic designer.
You might have seen a lot of memes floating around the internet on several occasions, have you ever thought who made them? Who gave a thought the platform to manifest?

Meet Pranav Kumar, a 21 year old Delhi-ite, currently studying B.Tech Computer Science at SRM University Chennai, who in a year's time has amassed over 12 thousand likes on his page on Facebook, titled - "Minimalistic Soul".

"Less in more"

His passion for designing had a rather comic beginning. Pranav says that "I started designing because my camera was broken and I was bored. I didn't know about Photoshop or designing before I joined college". His journey started when a senior of his Srijan Sharma, who is also the CEO of 365 Degrees, took time to explain to him about the various tools of Photoshop. Rest of his knowledge he attributes to YouTube videos and constant practice. A website he finds inspiring is The Minimalist.

 After dabbling for around 7-8 months, he created Minimalistic Soul in 2015, his page on Facebook, to reach out to a wider audience for his work. In his words, graphic designing is "a way to express one's thoughts, emotions or even to convey the message." When asked about his first success as a designer, he considers a feature piece in Indiatimes online published in April 2015 to be a milestone. You can check it out here. Over the course of more than a year, he has managed to create a fan base of more than 10,000 people, and attributes his progress to the constant criticism he receives from the people on his page.In August 2015, he decided to take his initiative further and now through his website he offers a variety of designing services. 

   Along with creating cool designs himself, Pranav is also active in teaching others to do the same. He has taught in Graphic designing workshops under 365 Degrees' initiative, Mirus. It focuses on organizing creative sessions in colleges to help students understand different creative domains. Pranav says the experience was particularly nostalgic for him, as it brought back memories of the times he was first introduced to the world of graphic designing. This helped him to understand the students better and teach accordingly. 
Apart from being a funny guy and designing cool stuff, Pranav is also an avid photographer and keyboardist.

As a message for aspiring graphic designers, Pranav says -
"If you're reading this and you're really trying to enter the world of graphic designing, Beware.
Those who are about to start I salute you :') 
P.S. Have a lot of patience. Rome wasn't built in a day."

Here's wishing Pranav all the best for the future!

Stay awesome \m/

P.S - (This post is a super special one as this is my first attempt at an interview. Feedback is most welcome!)

Check out Pranav's blog here to know more.
Follow him on Twitter! - @gareeb_designer
Connect on Facebook - Pranav Kumar

The Great Indian Food Feat

There isn't a spelling mistake in the title. It is a feat to eat food in the traditional Indian manner. I don't know about others, but for me it is so.

In India, there may be weddings, birthdays or funeral wakes; food is always present. It is considered an essential part of the whole event. Especially in Maharashtrian households, a plate filled with food is very important.

In our culture, the ‘pangat’ system is where people sit in a line with their plates filled in a systematic manner. Rules are very rigid, though people improvise nowadays. Growing up in a foodie household, I was made aware that the system of everyone sitting down and eating is an integral part of any special event.

Be it a birthday, wedding or even after a funeral, people sat on the ground to eat food in strategically placed dishes in plates. We can find parallels in almost every other culture in the country as well.

Sadly, for me this practice of eating is almost always embarrassing; because it’s is a herculean task to finish the first serving on the plate and I almost never get second servings (unless they are forced on the plate). And since I am skinny, I am force fed.

So. Much. Food.

I learned the technique of firmly saying no from my experiences of eating in pangats.

It's not like this.

It. Is. This.

As the years went by, I started devising certain tactics to not be left red-faced. So here are my tips to survive an Indian style food fest! -

1)Finish the big things with the small things combined. For instance, eat the rice with the chutney. Salad with veggies and roti.

2)    If you can’t finish your sweets, eat them before anything else.

3)    Compartmentalize. Strategise what you will finish first, leave no dish behind!

4)    If you think you can eat more, only then ask for a second serving.

5)    You only get 20-30 minutes maximum to consume your food, use them wisely.

6)    Worst strategy told by elders is to swallow the food with water. Don’t gulp food with water; it will only fill up your stomach. You know what, just don’t drink any water until your plate is clean.

7)    You need to practice the biggest hand gesture you can make and the most sincere expression of having a full stomach if you want to avoid those pesky requests of “please have some more”.

8)    Sit next to a close relative who, if need be, will help by taking some stuff off your plate.

Hey dude, take some food off my plate. PLEASE.

Let my experience help someone!

In other words,

Stay Awesome \m/

(Gifs from www.giphy.com ; Images from Google)