Take Jalsa Ghar, for instance. It’s a project I’m currently working on in Patdi, Gujarat, in collaboration with the Museum of Conflictorium and Swati Foundation. Tentatively called Jalsa Ghar (a celebratory space), this isn’t your usual community hall. It’s imagined as a vibrant, safe, and expressive space for adolescent girls—a kind of adda they rarely have access to. It’s both a place of rest and of political, poetic, and personal imagination.
These young girls live with the everyday negotiations of gender, caste, and class. Their built environment often doesn’t reflect their needs. With Jalsa Ghar, we’re trying to change that. The space will be soft, welcoming, and flexible. Cushions you can sink into. Corners where you can sit alone. Walls where you can write or doodle your thoughts. It’s not just a room—it’s a sensory and emotional landscape that says: you belong here.
And guess what? Designing such a space wasn’t about massive funding. It was about asking the right questions. How do you want to feel here?
