Design is not just about aesthetics - it can shape businesses, cultures, and even nations.Today, we sit down with Jacob Mathew, entrepreneur, designer, and one of the founding forces behind some of India’s most influential design practices, including Tesseract and Idiom Design.From growing up in Singapore and Trivandrum to studying at the National Institute of Design, Jacob’s journey reveals how design thinking, entrepreneurship, and value systems can come together to create lasting impact.He shares stories about:•⁠ ⁠The early days of Indian design entrepreneurship•⁠ ⁠Starting Tesseract in 1985 with a band of friends•⁠ ⁠Building large-scale design organizations like Idiom Design•⁠ ⁠Working with business leaders like Kishore Biyani•⁠ ⁠How design can influence nation-building and large systems•⁠ ⁠The importance of values, culture, and succession in creative companies•⁠ ⁠Sustainability, frugal design, and designing for the next 100 yearsJacob also reflects on legacy, impermanence, and why designers must move beyond creating objects to shaping values, systems, and future generations.This conversation is a deep dive into design leadership, entrepreneurship, and the responsibility of creative professionals in shaping society.If you're a designer, entrepreneur, or creative professional - this episode offers powerful insights on building meaningful work and long-term impact.

What happens when design meets entrepreneurship meets impact?

In this episode of Creative Spark, we sit down with Neelam Chhiber to explore her 40-year journey across design, rural craft ecosystems, social enterprise, and institution building.

From starting a retail venture with ₹20,000…

To raising investment capital…

To shutting down a for-profit model…

To building a nonprofit working with 1 million women…

This is not a surface-level conversation about craft.

We discuss:

•⁠ ⁠Why artisans are designers

•⁠ ⁠Why cultural IP must be protected

•⁠ ⁠India vs China vs Japan craft ecosystems

•⁠ ⁠Quadruple bottom line (financial + social + environmental + cultural)

•⁠ ⁠Blended finance and producer ownership

•⁠ ⁠Why discoverability is the real digital challenge

•⁠ ⁠Climate, traceability and bamboo value chains

•⁠ ⁠Letting go as a founder

This episode is for designers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and anyone building systems-level impact.

Why do so many talented creatives feel stuck?
Why do great ideas fail before they even begin?
And how do you know when to keep going—or when to stop?

In this episode of Creative Spark Plug, we sit down with Gautam Kotamraju — designer, entrepreneur, and one of the early minds behind Myntra’s private brands like Roadster — to talk about the real journey of building from 0 to 1.

This is not a motivational talk.
This is an honest conversation about:

• Why creatives hit a glass ceiling in India
• The difference between building (0→1) and scaling (10→100)
• How Myntra actually built its in-house brands
• Why MVP must be fantastic — or killed early
• When quitting is smarter than pushing harder
• How AI should be used as a tool, not a crutch

Gautam breaks complex ideas into simple truths anyone can understand — whether you’re a student, a designer, a founder, or just someone trying to figure out your next step.

If you’re creative, curious, or building something from scratch, this episode will change how you think about work, success, and risk.

What if creative work isn’t meant to scale?
What if depth matters more than visibility?

In this episode, Nilanjan P. Choudhury talks about choosing meaning over momentum.

Nilanjan P. Choudhury has lived multiple lives – corporate professional, published author, playwright, educator, and lifelong student of science and storytelling.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why most creative work is painful before it’s meaningful
• The difference between writing for love vs writing for validation
• Why theatre will survive AI and algorithms
• How self-doubt is not a bug, but the process
• Why creativity is more about risk than output

This episode is not about becoming famous, viral, or productive.
It’s about staying honest with yourself – even when no one is watching.

This episode is for you if:

• You feel pressure to constantly perform
• You’re tired of optimising creativity for attention
• You want to build work that lasts longer than trends

This episode is not for you if:

• You’re looking for hacks, shortcuts, or formulas
• You want motivation without discomfort

This episode of Creative Spark-Plug is for people who have built skills, careers, or companies — and are now questioning how they think, design, and decide.

In this conversation, Vittaldas Kashyap shares an unconventional journey from interior design to becoming a global UX and design leader — not through degrees or frameworks, but through curiosity, boldness, and deep empathy for users and people.

We talk about:

• Why confidence often matters more than knowing the answer
• How design thinking is really about human behaviour, not tools
• Why great careers are built by selling ideas before mastering them
• What founders and leaders misunderstand about UX, creativity, and culture
• How empathy scales better than expertise

This is not a tutorial on UX/UI.
It’s a conversation about how thoughtful people build meaningful work over time.

Creativity is often misunderstood as execution - doing more, producing faster, wearing multiple hats.In this episode of Creative Spark-plug, we sit with Sandeep Nanu to explore a more mature idea of creativity - one rooted in judgment, restraint, and sensing what truly matters.

Sandeep shares his journey from early web design to building an unconventional brand consultancy model - not by doing everything himself, but by identifying the real needs of a brand and bringing the right people together.

The conversation moves beyond work into life design, trust, patience, stand-up comedy, wildlife rescue, and the quiet discipline of showing up consistently.

This episode is for creatives who feel tired of the hustle narrative - and are curious about a calmer, more intentional way to build meaningful work.

In this episode, Architect Siddhartha Rao, gives us an insider’s POV on how architecture works in India and shares his personal experiences of being at, and at the helm of it. In his own efficient style, his narrative is easy to listen to, comprehend and soak in. There’s context, insight & real life example or factual data! He makes it sound that simple! Give this episode a listen for a peek into an architect’s world and to get a perspective on how to be an ‘entrepreneur’ at your job!!

Mukul Goyal is one of India’s most iconic product designers — known for turning everyday objects into playful, sculptural experiences. In this episode of Creative Spark-plug, we dive into his unique design philosophy rooted in Indian identity and an unwavering commitment to making things with joy and sincerity.

From his early days experimenting with materials to building a globally recognised design brand, Mukul shares:

• Why Indian designers must embrace their own aesthetic identity
• How playfulness and whimsy can coexist with functionality
• The role of honesty, intuition and self-belief in the creative process
• What it really takes to build a design business in India
• Why he is “his own customer”
• How to stay inspired across decades of making

If you're a designer, artist, craft lover, or anyone curious about the creative journey, this episode is filled with clarity, humor, and insight straight from one of India’s most authentic creative voices.

Enjoy the conversation — and let us know what resonated most.

What happens when curiosity becomes a lifelong practice?In Part 2 of this Creative Spark-plug conversation, hosts Rajesh Sharma and Baashobe Majumdar continue their deep dive with designer and storyteller Samrat Som—this time moving further into the ideas and influences that shape his creative worldview.Samrat reflects on how travel, culture, and lived experiences shape his design decisions, and he also shares his nuanced perspective on Indian design—its roots, its evolution, and the unique possibilities it holds for the future. He talks about why embracing ambiguity leads to stronger ideas and how multidisciplinary thinking helps him bridge fashion, textiles, economics, and the wider world of design.This episode unpacks the craft behind creativity—how observation turns into insight, how play fuels innovation, and why thoughtful design often emerges from unexpected intersections.If Part 1 was about discovering Samrat’s journey, Part 2 is about understanding his philosophy—how he thinks, what drives him, and how he continues to evolve as a creator.Tune in to explore creativity at its most fluid, cultural, and interconnected.

What happens when curiosity refuses to stay in one lane?In this episode of Creative Spark-plug, hosts Rajesh Sharma and Baashobe Majumdar have a conversation with Samrat Som - a designer, storyteller and thinker whose journey moves effortlessly from economics to fashion and textiles, and into the broader world of design and creativity.Samrat shares how his early influences, mentors, and experiences, shaped the way he sees the world - and how being curious, observant, and hands-on, has defined his creative process.This conversation explores what it means to be a multi-disciplinary designer, how learning and exploration fuel innovation, and why creativity often emerges from unexpected intersections.Stay tuned till the end, where Rajesh reveals what’s coming in Part 2, continuing the deep dive into Samrat’s perspective on design, culture, and creative growth.