Today we feature, Sandeep Kumar Gangaram, designer of KANDY, a terracotta water bottle. Lets find out more about the maker and his venture.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am Sandeep Kumar Gangaram (known as Sandy amongst friends), doing Masters in the Department of Engineering Design at IIT Madras. After graduating from IIT Madras with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, I was utterly clueless of what I wanted to do in life. I started attending classes all over again out of sheer curiosity just to explore what else was out there. Later I started working at the Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, IIT Madras while also working as a part time Product Designer. It was my exposure here that led me to find my calling in Product Design. I have always been curious of what life has in store for me and I hope to continue following my interests with the hope that the dots will connect somewhere down the line.
About your venture. What inspired you to start your business?
I was fascinated by the concept of evaporative cooling and how terracotta products could perform this function naturally. So I purchased a terracotta bottle from near my campus and started drinking water from it regularly. However, I found that the design features of the bottle made it inconvenient to use. It was improperly designed, bulky and there was no aesthetic appeal. That was when I designed one for myself, thus sparking the birth of this business. I started contacting potters, travelled to meet them and pushed them to get initial prototypes done.
Soon, it was summer and people started asking me where I had purchased my bottle and whether they could get one for themselves. Their compliments boosted my confidence that this product actually had a market demand and I decided to produce more bottles to see how many I would be able to sell. Since then, it has been an exciting journey and the product has begun to gather some fame. There will also be a line of other elegantly designed products coming up in the near future under our brand – Kandy.
What are you displaying at the By Hand, From The Heart.
We will be displaying a single product; an eco-friendly water bottle. The bottle is a completely eco-friendly bottle made of terracotta, jute and cork. The main body of the bottle is made of red clay with a capacity of 1000 ml. We have ensured that the design is a meld of good aesthetics and practicality and have also kept the weight minimal keeping in mind the user’s experience. The bottle is sealed by a t-shaped cap made of Cork. The entire bottle is encased in a jute pouch with extra padding to protect the bottle from damage on impact. There is also a small rope coil at the top of the jute case that makes it easy to carry the bottle (similar to how one carries a lunch-bag).
The water inside the bottle is at a perfect temperature that is neither too hot nor cold and will exude an earthy taste while drinking. We hope that, the whole experience with Kandy bottles will increase the joy of drinking water for the user.
Meet the Maker @
By Hand From The Heart Makers Market 23rd Edition
Friday – Saturday
16th & 17th February, 2018
10:00 a.m to 8:00 p.m
Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park, (old Adyar Gate Hotel)
132, T.T.K Road, Alwarpet, Chennai – 600018, India.
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