Page 62 - AYUR

A YUR | 57
A Reflection
When I describe myself professionally, I tend to see both a learner
and a designer. A learner, because I find myself to be deeply
impressionable as a person, by most things that come my way. A
designer because I enjoy manipulating and finding archetypes in
these impressions to create things that are novel and relevant to
the context. So before I dove into this project, I had made a
conscious commitment to find an integration of these two aspects
during the journey ahead, and use the chaos of the process to the
best effect. And sure enough, when it did unfold, once again I
found myself grappling with both these aspects of myself, moving
back and forth between them as I dealt with both external and
internal realities of the context. But this time, with every new and
inevitable state of disequilibrium in the process, I found myself in a
place of surprising calm. Every time that I found myself faced with
the question of whether to diverge or to converge, to take a step
back or to dive deeper, to stay on the same track or to switch
routes, I found a deep sense of security in the chaos of the
process and within myself.
Having the time and resources to see the project through to
completion, though in a hypothetical state, gave me the opportu-
nity to explore a whole range of methodologies of design. The
co-creation session, which played a big part in validating my
assumptions, was a first for me. And this meant that putting
together everything from the background music to the session
timeline had to be learnt and designed from scratch. Besides,
working closely with doctors of a large institution like the IAIM
Healthcare Centre was just as new and insightful as an experi-
ence. Throughout, I found myself adapting new methods and
techniques in dealing with the changing contexts, as the real
world, more often than not, is less predictable than it seems.
When working with a whole range of people on a project, it is often
assumed early on that everyone is on the same page as us. Howev-
er, with the diversity of contexts, languages and backgrounds that
people come from, this is hardly the case. Here, it becomes essen-
tial to communicate and clarify effectively, often having to visualise
or simulate the idea in an engaging manner. Quite often, this
miscommunication may even exist in the internal realm during
ideation and synthesis, and even here, visually mapping out the
ideas played a big part in making sense of the chaos of the process.
When I look back at this project and all the experiences that I have
had through it, I can truly see myself come out of it as both, a better
learner and designer. Though there were both the ups and downs
of taking up a project on my own, these were learnings that could
never have been taught by any one person or book, and I find
myself truly grateful for this opportunity. I hope to have many more.
References
Hankey, Alex. Ayurveda and the battle against chronic disease: An opportunity for Ayurveda to go
mainstream?.Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 2010.
Gopichandran, Vijayaprasad. Trust in healthcare: an evolving concept. Indian Journal of Medical
Ethics, 2013.
Simpson, Jeffry A.. Psychological Foundations of Trust. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus,
2007.
Snowdon, Anne, Harpreet Bassi, Andrew D. Scarffe, and Alexander D. Smith. Reverse innovation: an
opportunity for strengthening health systems. Globalisation and Health, 2015.
Meadows, Donella H., Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Earthscan, 2008.
Rudra, Shalini, Aakshi Kalra, Abhishek Kumar, and William Joe. Utilization of alternative systems of
medicine as health care services in India: Evidence on AYUSH care from NSS 2014. Plos One, 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176916.
Yadav, Ram Gopal. Discussion on Working of Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha
and Homoeopathy (Ayush). Synopsis of Debate: Rajya Sabha, July15th 2019.