விநாயகர் துணையுடன், பகவதி அம்மன் காவலில், முருகன் தெளிவில், கிருஷ்ணன் தர்மத்தில்.

I start here. Always.

January 26, 2026. Republic Day.

404 band was playing music at ISDM. We were eating, laughing, enjoying. Then we got the call: "Leave for Jaipur. CoLife starts now."

36 people, 18 experienced mentors and 4 countries. four case study. Five days together at ARCH College.

India, Denmark, Finland, Belgium. Design students, business students, development professionals. We didn't know each other. We had to figure out Kalpana Handmade Paper together.

We started with introductions. Not the polite kind, the real kind.

My group (Paper Machaans):

David (Denmark), Rounak , Heidi (Finland), Roshani, Shobhan, Tashiyana, Harshini, and me.

We created a group contract. Not rules, values. Inclusivity. Respect. Listening before speaking.

David told me his story. His father is funding 10 siblings across Africa. He's from Denmark, but his family's story is about migration, support, survival. We connected somewhere deep.

This is what the case study I mentioned last week was about: "How do we help participants in diverse cohorts truly understand each other's contexts?"

This week, I lived the answer: You sit together. You share stories. You don't rush

We visited Kalpana Handmade Paper in Sanganer, Jaipur.

Trilok (CEO) showed us the entire process. How they make paper from rice straw waste. How farmers get paid instead of burning stubble. How artisans who can't read or write create beautiful products.

The legacy:
Sanganer has been making handmade paper since the 15th century. Kalpana was established in 1994 by Mr. Ram Prasad Saini. Started with cotton textile waste. Now uses agricultural waste. 32 years of not cutting trees. Not wasting material. Employing people who need work.

The scale:

The problem they gave us:
"We have sustainable paper. We have production capacity. We have skilled artisans. But we don't have design innovation. We don't have strong B2C market presence. Help us build that."

4 hours of Design Thinking workshops across 5 days.

We used the Double Diamond method:

→ Discover (What's the real problem?)

→ Define (Who are the stakeholders?)

→ Develop (What solutions can we create?)

→ Deliver (How do we present this?)

My part: I worked on the Approach to Decode section. Systems thinking. Stakeholder mapping. The 80/20 principle. The 5 Whys.

We presented on January 31. All 4 groups. Judges from India and Europe.

One thing Trilok said stayed with me:
"When customers buy from us, at least 10-20% of revenue goes to farmers. The artisans are involved. So it's not just a product, it's a relationship."

That's what impact-focused entrepreneurship actually looks like.

MODM Episode 3 went live during CoLife week.

Musings on Development - my podcast exploring what development work is really like.

Sakshi Sharma (ISDM Batch 2) talked about being an introvert in social sector work. How it's not a barrier, it's a different way of connecting.

That insight echoed through CoLife. We had extroverts who talked first. We had introverts who observed, then spoke depth. Both mattered.

Listen here →

Before everyone left Jaipur, I gave each person a plant stick.

Seeds embedded in paper. You plant it, water it, it grows.

I gave it to coaches, students.

Denmark, Finland, Belgium, across India. Wherever they go, they can plant it.

My green grows everywhere.

This felt right. We worked on Kalpana Papers (making paper from agricultural waste). I gave seeds in paper. Full circle.

This week's pattern:

Francis Zierer (Creator Spotlight, 400k subscribers) says:
"Be consistent but not predictable. Consistent in quality, not predictable in format."

Every Monday, you get a newsletter.
What's inside shifts.

This week: Republic Day. CoLife. Kalpana Papers. 32 people. 4 countries. Seeds in paper.

Next week will hold something different.

Where to find me:

Annual Edition (2025 full record): Enter your details here

Note to Readers

This newsletter documents what actually happened, in real time. Not advice. Not lessons. Just presence and attention. Some questions remain open by design.

Thank you for reading.

—
Nami 🌊