Idea-Loom Pursuits: When career guidance becomes experience

There’s a kind of learning that begins only when a student meets someone who has built a life out of curiosity.

That is the spirit behind Idea-Loom Pursuits, Keystone’s new series where

professionals visit our community not to give career advice, but to share how their ideas turned into work.

Our first session featured Santosh Kocherlakota, designer, entrepreneur, and founder of Earthen Tunes, a company designing farmer-first footwear made from indigenous wool.The hour began as a talk on design, but gradually turned into a conversation about happiness, purpose, and the quiet confidence of doing work that helps someone else.

The long way around to finding purpose

Santosh’s story started predictably: an Electronics & Instrumentation degree from BITS Pilani, followed by a secure corporate role at Bharat Petroleum.But the comfort of that path didn’t hold him for long. “Selling oil wasn't the purpose,” he said simply. So he left to study design at NID Ahmedabad: a decision that would reshape how he thought about learning itself.

At NID, he discovered that design wasn’t a subject to master; it was a way to see.He learned to ask better questions, to slow down before deciding, and to treat observation as a form of respect.

“Design,” he told students, “isn’t about making things. It’s about learning how people live.”

Designing for real lives

That mindset came alive in his graduation project, a wheelchair designed for India’s terrain.Built from bicycle parts and repairable in any small town, the project reminded him that design is most valuable when it is ordinary enough to help.

Years later, during a rural immersion, another question surfaced: why do so many farmers still walk barefoot?

The answer wasn’t poverty or habit, it was the absence of design that respected their environment.

That discovery became the seed for Earthen Tunes.

Over 120 prototypes and experiments with 15 natural fibres later, the team found the right material: Gungadi, a traditional Deccan wool craft once used to make blankets that last decades.

The result was more than footwear; it was a system connecting farmers, artisans, and designers; each adding value, each earning dignity.“Good design,” he said, “creates livelihood, not dependency.”

What students took home

As students listened, they heard more than a career story.They heard a different way of measuring success.

Santosh spoke about happiness as a compass. “If a day’s work brings calm,” he said, “you’re already succeeding.”

He reminded them that peace is progress, that joy is not an afterthought but a sign that work is aligned with purpose.

He spoke of empathy before innovation: how good ideas begin with listening, not with cleverness.

And he asked them to remember that comparison is noise: fulfillment is not louder achievement, but steadier purpose.

Design as mindset, not profession

When a student asked what it means to pursue a career in design, he smiled and replied,

“Design isn’t a subject. It’s a way of thinking.”

He explained that design connects science, empathy, and ethics  and that the best designers borrow from every field.

Biology, sociology, psychology, economics all of them feed into the way we notice and solve problems.

He used his own stories as teaching tools:

• The snake story wasn’t about fear but about paying attention, how good intentions still need accurate observation.

• The wool story wasn’t about fashion but about memory, how local crafts carry centuries of sustainable wisdom.

• The pangolin story wasn’t about novelty but about humility, how nature already holds solutions we just need to learn from.

  
  

Each example revealed that design, at its heart, is about seeing the invisible connections between people, places, and ideas.

Design careers and mindsets

Students who dreamt of creative paths heard something deeply practical:

• Observe before you decide. Spend more time understanding the problem.

• Document your process. Colleges and employers look for how you think, not just how it looks.

• Connect disciplines. Design thrives on intersections.

• Stay curious. Sketching and journaling sharpen perception better than any tool.

• Keep empathy central. Whether for farmers or city dwellers, design exists to serve.

“Your skills matter less than your sensitivity,” he told them, a line several students underlined.

India’s own intelligence

One of the most powerful parts of the session came when he spoke about indigenous wisdom.India, he said, already holds many of the answers the world now calls “sustainable.”We have 47 varieties of wool, and communities that have perfected climate-smart materials for over a thousand years.

“Our job,” he said, “is not to copy, but to continue.”

It reminded everyone in the room, teachers included that education is not only about looking forward; it is also about looking deeper.

For parents and teachers

Idea-Loom Pursuits was created to widen the map for students, parents, and teachers alike.For parents, it’s a chance to see what meaningful exposure can look like: not a list of careers, but encounters that build confidence and perspective.At home, one question can keep that spirit alive:

“What problem caught your attention this week, and what did you try?”

For teachers, it’s a reminder that reflection belongs beside rigour that curiosity can sit comfortably next to curriculum.

Looking ahead

This is just the first thread in the Idea-Loom Pursuits series.

Through the year, we’ll meet scientists, designers, educators, and community builders each helping our students see how learning, empathy, and courage come together in the real world.

As Santosh said quietly, “Peace is also progress.”

At Keystone, we believe that’s a lesson worth revisiting, in classrooms, corridors, and conversations to come.

Discover how Keystone’s Idea Loom framework helps students prepare for college applications through real experiences, reflection, and purpose-driven portfolios.