Lamps have a primary function. To provide light But why do we need the light, and how do we need the light? This is where design becomes an answer. Light, colour, shadow, pattern.. All these can be manipulated to bring in meanings and emotions.

Paper lamps are known as very common and very simple products. The catch here is the play of light and shadow. This is what makes the lamp so emotional. Where light and shadow create visual metaphors, they give another meaning to the product.

This project aims to explore the design of a tea candle paper lamp by developing the design and improving its usability and aesthetics.

Kachchh, commonly written as "Kutch," is the largest district in India and is located in Gujarat state. Kutch is an ethnic web of interwoven cultures, a land of vibrantly colourful art and craft heritage. This cultural mix plays host to a thriving exposition of textiles, ornaments, and living styles, eulogised within a contemporary framework. Kutch literally means something that intermittently becomes wet and dry; a large part of this district is known as the Rann of Kutch, which is a shallow wetland that submerges in water during the rainy season and becomes dry during other seasons.

The Rann is famous for its marshy salt flats, which become snow white after the shallow water dries up each season before the monsoon rains. The district is also famous for the ecologically important banni grasslands with their seasonal marshy wetlands, which form the outer belt of the Rann of Kutch. The district is surrounded by the Gulf of Kutch and the Arabian Sea in the south and west, while the northern and eastern parts are surrounded by the Great and Little Rann (seasonal wetlands) of Kutch. The languages spoken predominantly in the Kutch district are Kutchi and Gujarati. The script of the Kutchi language has become extinct. It is now mainly written in the Gujarati script.

My research in dentistry had begun when I was doing a collaborative course with the BETiC lab at IIT Bombay. I was working with a group of students and was working on developing dental equipment for lighting in dental surgeries. We had done a background study on dentistry and the issues related to it. In focus, we also studied the dental chair. There were many issues that we were trying to address. The portability of the dental chair was one of the issues that came to my attention. From earlier conversations with dentists, I had gotten the idea of developing a portable dental chair. After the completion of the course with BETiC, this project was taken forward, and I did my research on this specific issue. The chair is not just a chair for the patients; it is also the work station for the dentists. This understanding of the usability of the chair is what triggered the design thinking for me. This project gave me a lot of experiences and a lot of insights in the field of Indian dentistry. In the following chapters, I will describe in detail the process of designing this product and the insights and scope of this project.

The coconut tree is called "Kalpa vriksha". Which means that the tree makes every dream come true. That's pretty much the truth after all. The coconut tree is one of the most useful trees in the environment; from flower to root, every bit of it can be used for many applications. Coir is the natural fibre from coconuts. There are many products made out of coir.

The Coi Board of India is a government institution under the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. They have been researching the development and improvement of this sector. There have been a lot of new turnovers in terms of processing and product development, and India is one country with a really large scale of coconut tree plantations. This amazing fibre contributes more than just a handful of products to different sectors in Kerala. It is also being exported to many countries because of its characteristics and durability.

Furniture design using coir is not an entirely new thing. There have been many innovations in design using coir as a raw material. The coir board itself promotes student projects in many areas to bring innovation to the sector.

In this project, I will be exploring the possibilities of coir as a material for furniture design. I will look into different manufacturing processes and see whether we can manipulate them to yield new forms, textures, etc.