Hello.
I am Shambhavi Deshpande, pronounced Sh-aa-m-bh-vi De-sh-paa-n-dey :)
I am from India, born and grew up in Tuljapur (Maharashtra). It is a small, historic place with a famous, ancient Hindu temple. Some of my favorite moments from childhood are star-gazing walks with my mom and motor scooter road trips with my dad.
It was around the age of fourteen when I experienced city life, as we moved to Pune (Maharashtra). I was all nervous and excited too, just like I am today, with this transition of countries! I lived there for four years, studied sciences, and was inclined towards a bachelor’s in engineering, particularly astrophysics.
I have been really lucky because right at the beginning of my career, I found out about the field of Design. I was even luckier to be able to pursue a B.Des in Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (Assam), a premier institute of India. I learned about the major subdisciplines of design: Communication, industrial, interaction, and research. I really liked working on projects that touched base with social concerns — like the role of culture in technology, education of deprived children, or women’s safety and healthcare.
I went ahead to practice Interaction design professionally, at MakeMyTrip Ltd in Gurgaon (Haryana), which is the largest travel eCommerce brand in India. It was a really great experience for me to be able to move the needle, through design. I learned to shoulder responsibilities for millions of users and turnover for large scale business.
Hmm… and now, here I am, at CMU School of Design. Thanks to all the orientations and introductions in the last few days, I have become a little practiced in talking (and writing) about myself! I am mostly an introvert. Lucky for me, I have always met people who don’t let me be one for a long time :)
I am vegetarian. I avoid plastics and waste in general. It makes me sad to see food wastage. I like the trees and the hills. I like cloudy weather. Dance fitness makes me happy. I have a sweet tooth :)
In the time to be spent here, I wish to learn in-depth about design for sustainability and practice it at scale going ahead. Hoping to enjoy this phase of life, and build some great connections with people on the way!
