Sketching my career one sword at a time

I was always mesmerised with swords and daggers and used to make different kinds of swords, daggers and similar products in college. While people made software models, I preferred to make real-life models. I loved working in the college's wood and metal workshop making various models. I have a dream of working in a place where I could design props for movies.

One day, while searching for production prop companies in India for my summer internship, I came across Windlass Steelcrafts. I soon found out that the company made weapons and armours for various movies. Later, I found that the company was based out of Dehradun, my hometown. So, I called them up and expressed my interest for an internship. I was asked to visit them during the winter break.

When I visited their office for the first time, I was amazed by the work they do. The precision with which the employees worked, the attention that was being given to every detail and the positive working atmosphere made my heart leap with joy. After a brief interview, I landed a six-week internship with Windlass.

When my internship started, I was given the freedom to design whatever I wanted. That period was basically the time where they were going to see what I could actually do. I started off by sketching different kinds of concepts for daggers, death scythes and swords with a contemporary twist. By the fourth week, I had a bunch of different sketches ready. One day, the chairman dropped by my cabin and saw my work. He was immensely impressed and immediately selected two designs to develop as prototype samples - a dagger and a death scythe. I was given no brief, so the design and other aspects were dependent on me. I decided to design a contemporary elven dagger and a death scythe for a contemporary grim reaper. For the next two weeks, I ran around the factory getting those two prototypes developed. In that time, I was able to interact with the artisans working with the company. By the end of six weeks, I was able to complete both the prototypes. It was an amazing experience as I go to learn about what all goes into the making of a sword.

This was more than a year ago, and currently, I'm doing my graduation project at Windlass Steelcrafts itself and working on projects that I had never even dreamt of. To all the young aspiring designers out there who want to land a good internship, good firms will look at your skills and how much heart you put into your work. So, be committed to your work and your dreams will come true!

(The author is a student, MIT Institute of Design, Pune)