'Logo of Nalanda University shows the interlinking of the different stakeholders'

Understandably so the logo of Nalanda University itself depicts the interlinking of the different stakeholders. It illustrates the central idea of Nalanda as articulated by George Yeo in The Nalanda Way. Sujata Keshavan, Chairman, Ray+Keshavan, the design company that worked on the logo, tells Sarika Malhotra that it was a fascinating and rare project.

Q. Given the lineage of Nalanda University, how did you work around creating the logo for the new university? What were the challenges?

A. This was a fascinating project. A logo tries to distil in visual language, the essence of an endeavour. In this case, we had the wonderful legacy of the ancient Nalanda University to draw upon. At the same time, we were very aware that this was a modern university preparing people for the future. While celebrating history, there was no room for a revisionist approach. The logo reflects the spirit of Nalanda as a modern centre for knowledge and excellence, universalist in outlook, open to currents of thoughts and practices from around the world.

The challenge was that there were many stakeholders - more than is usual in a typical identity project. There was the Union government, represented by the Ministry of External Affairs, the Bihar government and the board of Nalanda, with representatives from five countries. We had to get all these different people, with different views, on board and get them all to accept a single design for the identity.

Q. What does the logo signify in letter and in spirit?

A. It illustrates the central idea of Nalanda as articulated by George Yeo in The Nalanda Way - 'man living in harmony with man, man living in harmony with nature, man living as part of nature'.  It also exemplifies what is unique about this university, that it results from the coming together of different countries, of people across geographies, who are working together to make this unique experiment possible. The logo shows the interlinking of the different stakeholders. As a graphic, it is a 'rebus' or a visual pun. While on the one hand it depicts the tree (underlying the Bodhi tree's importance to the story - the tree is a symbol of nature, a metaphor for life and of giving), on the other it shows interlinked figures of the people who have come together. The visual treatment is clearly Asian in its expression, as are the stakeholders of the university. The circle around the tree is organic, and is reminiscent of a seal.

Q. What does this association and assignment mean to you?

A. This was a unique and most interesting assignment with a fantastic brief. Not only was the idea of a new Nalanda very compelling, the client as represented by the board was extremely enlightened and exceptional in its outlook. We engaged with each of them individually to understand their thinking. We spent a few days with the board in Bihar where we visited both the original site and the site of the new university. Assignments such as this are rare, and we were indeed privileged to have been a part of this exercise.