Design Sandesh

Design Sandesh is a series triggered by design conversations where Rahul Bhattacharya, Rajib Ghosh and Alok Nandi are exploring the design landscape(s) in East India, in Kolkata and around. This geography has set a practice specific to the region: adda [ bengali : আড্ডা ], the art of conversing about everything and anything. Design Sandesh is a place where adda is geared towards design, its practices and its principles. The first Design Sandesh adda took place in Kolkata on November 10th 2024, in partnership with One Design Community and numerous design stakeholders.

What happens when you connect the words Design and Sandesh, each being a porte-manteau word/concept? each being a porte-manteau world/notion?

More stories coming soon. Stay tuned.

Adda is a beloved pastime that’s unique to Kolkata. Markedly different to small talk or chatting, it is best described as an informal group conversation that’s long, fluid and relaxed in nature. While “adda” can loosely be translated as “hangout”, this loses the nuances and oversimplifies the action.

“We are not expected to produce something out of an adda,” Aditi Ghosh, head of the linguistics department at University of Calcutta, told me. “It is a kind of unplanned mental exercise where we not just talk about ourselves and our families, but we go beyond that. It is about ideas and events happening all around us.”

Adda: The secret to Bengali conviviality – https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210812-adda-the-secret-to-bengali-conviviality