29-year-old Akila Chungi was like many other Hyderabadis who opted to take up Computer Science Engineering. “Honestly, when I was in school, I did not even know that Architecture was a subject,” says Akila, whose life has taken a surprising turn. She is now a professional potter who designs and makes her own clay and ceramics, and has customers mostly in Mumbai and Delhi, and a few from her home city, Hyderabad.
“I was interested in interior designing but nobody would hire me without experience, but one firm took me in, on trial for three months. I taught myself the skills. They liked my work and hired me. When I learnt about the experimental methods of architecture with materials like bamboo at Auroville, I wanted to learn firsthand about them,” she says.-
She went to Auroville and spent two years there. “My time in Auroville was most enriching. There, I understood the importance of sustainable living and took a liking to pottery and farming. I worked with an architect for just a month before getting in the prestigious Golden Bridge Pottery in Pudducherry,” she says. “When I got through, I knew that this was my calling. The system there is a lot like the ancient gurukul system, with a guru shishya parampara.”
About buyers from Hyderabad, she says, “People here are not yet open to 3D art. They usually go for paintings rather than sculptures or wall murals. So I also make functional items like kitchenware and dining sets.”
