Vatsap in newspaper :)

Let me go back in time and remind you about this post where I had given subtle hint about the shit getting popular and dragging me along with it. Amrut recommended Prachi, who is a final year journalism student in Chennai and writes for the The Times of India group, to have a look at vatsap.com and see if she found me interesting enough to be written about for an upcoming assignment of hers. After nearly a month since Prachi and myself first talked, the article is out in the Chennai Edition of today’s Economic Times. If you get this newspaper, do check out Page 3 of the the Education Times supplement.

Here is the full article:

MORE THAN A ‘STUDENT’

CREATIVE ENGINEERING

Prachi Sibal in conversation with an IITian who is wondering how he got there

Adding finishing touches to yet another sketch in his collection, Amrit Vatsa is snuggled in an awkward position, eyes fixed on the object of work, no sign of distraction. Step into room number 345 at the Narmada Hostel and you will see walls, wardrobes and every other available space in the room filled with caricatures, sketches and other art work.

Vatsap, as he calls himself, (thanks to the sheer tragedy of not being given a nickname when he entered college!) is a young man of many talents. He is a 5th year student of ‘Infrastructure’ Civil Engineering,as he wishes to emphasise, at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Like most others of his clan, he says,”Sometimes I sit and wonder what got me to IIT in the first place.”

Having begun as a designer about two years ago, Amrit has moved on to avenues outside his college curriculum in the past year and a half. His first few designs were for in-campus events like Shaastra, the IITM tech fest ,something he continues to do even now despite the off-campus assignments flooding in. “Managing the design job in the Institute (read Insti) in itself is a challenge enough. For Shaastra 2007, I have a brilliant design team working for me. I am leading a team of 12 guys (and girls) who do most of the job for me. They include copywriters, photographers, graphic artists, traditional artists and trend spotters,” he proudly says.

His recent off-campus projects include a logo and a T-shirt for the Bangalore Roof Top Film Festival, a company profile brochure for a BPO and a logo for a Web 2.0 company. Amrit has also designed logos and T-shirts for the second edition of Proto.in, an event that helps bring venture capitalists who can fund a business and entrepreneurs who have a product to propose. Besides these projects, his logo was selected in a competition, for an NGO.”If you are wondering where I picked up these designing skills, all credit goes to my uncle in Mumbai, who is an animation artist. He was the one who taught me Photoshop,” explains a beaming Vatsap.

Designing isn’t the only passion in Amrit’s life – his talents are multifaceted.He sketches for leisure, and noteworthy are the caricatures that decorate his room,every nook and corner of it.When asked about sketching as a profession he says, “Sketching is a passion.It’s different from the other work I do.I don’t like doing art for money.When someone offered to buy my stuff I didn’t feel like doing it anymore.”

His other hobbies include acting,where he has gained a lot of institute level acclaim,composing tunes and making home films. He has also tutored children and is an enthusiastic blogger. Amrit also runs a blog on Indian infrastructure, www.indinfra.wordpress.com that is a platform for many in the field for comments and suggestions.

When asked about his future plans, he tells us,”I want to earn money,get a job,at least for a while, though I really don’t know if I will stick to being an engineer.I do want to be in the creative field but not until I have earned a little.”