Meet the SHEROES - Suhasini Paul

What made Pink Elefant happen?

As a child I used to create my own toys and games. I found an inclination towards creative things and I found it calling while pursuing B.E. in electrical engineering. At the same time I started a company called ‘Dreamz Decorations’. My work then entailed window displays and organising birthday parties for kids in free time apart from engineering studies.  As I always wanted to do something for children and then gradually discovered the lacuna in the toy industry.

During that period in 2002, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, started a new   discipline – Toy Design and Development. Got enrolled in 2003 and did my post-graduation in toy design.

Just after post-graduating for NID, I began my journey as a design entrepreneur in 2005, hunting opportunities for design intervention in the toy sector. Ever since, I have been actively involved in spreading awareness about Toy Design, the new profession in India, by giving lecturers in design Schools like IILM school of Design, NIFT Delhi, IIT Kanpur and NID.

India created the world’s first recognised board games: Parchesi and Chess. However, surprisingly Toy design as a profession is still at its nascent stage. My drive to reinstate India’s claim of being the originator of board games gave me the impetus to serve the Toy Industry as a Play Strategist.

 A creative mind knows no “right” or “wrong”. It is at its best when left to explore the possibilities beyond the obvious. Pink Elefant is the color of child-like imagination, free-spirited, pure and innocent. This has been my philosophy since I started in 2005

What inspires you everyday?

The design process begins with observation and need identification through in depth research which leads to analysis and conclusion on what has to be done, it can be a board game, puzzle, toy, any plaything which should be informative, educative and off course fun filled. I am inspired by the behavior and experiences of children — physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and cultural. 
While designing water cycle game, I have interacted with teachers, parents and children. While observing children, I was amazed by how they perceive things and depict them through their drawings, I have used this tool as my user survey technique and asked about 25 -30 children of different age groups to draw a rainy day /season. I have found my key elements in their drawings which I have further taken as my inspiration for my board game elements.

Message to all the SHEROES out there.

Here are three simple things I’d like to say:

1. Do things only if you believe in it

2. ‘Many of us think we are different but few believe they can make a Difference - Be a Doer.'

 3. Work for JOY.