While most of us have picked up new hobbies in the past few months, Porvorim’s Adersh Alornekar has refined his existing skills and has learned to embrace the new way of living. NT BUZZ gets details
RAMANDEEP KAUR | NT BUZZ
In COVID times, life at Adersh Alornekar’s home has not changed much, but yes, they are extra careful when they interact with other people and follow the safety protocols. And they do help with the household chores more than usual. “As there is no rush of work, we are able to spend more time at lunch and dinner. We avoid moving out much, there is more of virtual interaction with close family members. Other than that, we try to live a normal life at home,” says Alornekar who recently finished his Masters in Product Design from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru and is currently employed as a product designer at a Bengaluru-based start-up.
The youngster loves to do illustration and spends most time doing illustration or reading books. So, while he didn’t pick up anything new during the lockdowns, instead, he worked on refining his existing skills. He learned new digital illustration tools and some 3D modelling and renderings. “Given the free time, I practiced refining my pen sketches and was able to complete my sketchbook. I also finished reading five books on my kindle,” he says.
Also, he has learned to embrace this new situation. “We have to get used to a new mindset and accept the situation as it is and make the most of it,” he says. Most importantly he has learned to make do with the things he has rather than buying new stuff unnecessarily. Meditation, yoga, and reading the Bhagavad Gita and other inspirational books has helped him a lot to bring in that change, he states. “The pandemic came all of a sudden, it made me realise, that life is like that – uncertain. Also, I realised that we can live with less of everything. It reminded me how life was when we were kids in the early 90s,” he says. However, he adds, out of the many things that he misses, are the social gatherings with his friends and family
members.
As far as work life is concerned, he is just starting work from home, and for a freshman, he says, it’s a bit challenging to adjust to this new style. “As designers, our job involves interacting with a lot of people in person and then prototyping the products. When you meet people in person there is an exchange of energy and emotions which really inspires you. But right now, everything is virtual,” says Alornekar, who feels that he is missing out on the complete office experience, especially considering this is his first job in the industry.
Also, since his office is in Bengaluru where the situation is worse than in Goa, there are concerns, he says, about health. “But if we take the precautions, I feel we all can help to overcome the pandemic. We must do our contribution for society and fight the pandemic at the same time. Look at the doctors, they are doing their jobs,” he says.