Vasavi Bubna is Brooklyn based creative currently designing at COLLINS. Born and raised in the vibrant city of Mumbai, India, Vasavi draws inspiration from her hometown’s rich culture and color, channeling it into her work in the form of purposeful, considered chaos. She seeks to cultivate audacious narratives through design.
Pronouns: She/her
What is the thing you like doing most in the world?
A long bike ride along the water with the wind blowing in my face and tangling up my hair, with a good playlist playing in my ears. Going to the beach and alternating between swimming in the ocean and lying on a towel with a good book. A leisurely stroll on Marine Drive in Mumbai (where I grew up), while the sun sets over the sea and the streetlights turn on. I love being near the water.
What is the first memory you have of being creative?
I’ve been taking art classes for as long as I can remember. But some of my earliest memories of being creative outside of those classes or school, is making cards for people I loved. Birthday cards, Fathers Day and Mothers Day cards, Anniversary cards. My mother had a big book about scrapbooking, and we would look through it together to find ideas. I remember copying a tutorial for an origami necktie card one father day (even though my father never wears a tie), and making yellow pencil bookmarks for my teachers on teachers day. My mother kept all her craft supplies in a closet in our balcony, and I remember raiding it for patterned ribbons, giant buttons, glitter glue, sequins, pompoms and all sorts of other decorations. She had a few fun paper punches which I loved. My favorite was the green one with the tiny tulip. I would punch out little flowers from sheets of colored paper and stick them on folded sheets in different patterns.
What is your biggest regret?
As cliche as it may sound, I truly don’t believe in regrets. Someone once told me that regret is the only emotion that never metabolises, so when things are in my control, I either take a leap of faith or don’t waste time fretting over the ‘what ifs’. The only big ‘what if’ I allow myself to indulge in is, “What if COVID never happened and I didn’t have to do my entire freshman year of college online from India, but instead got to come to New York and start that new phase of my life completely fresh?” But that one was so far out of my control, that I don’t know if I would call it a ‘regret’ per say.
How have you gotten over heartbreak?
By giving it time and feeling the pain instead of trying to run away from it. I truly do believe time heals all wounds (even when that healing feels ridiculously slow).
What makes you cry?
Crying is my way of truly feeling my emotions, be it grief, anger, frustration or joy. Which means i cry often and fast. A non-exhaustive list of my things that made me cry recently: watching my niece take her first steps over FaceTime, difficult critique at work, Rory’s high school graduation speech in Gilmore Girls (I have watched it more times than I can count), when I dropped and broke my roommate’s favorite mug, booking my flight to visit home after a year and a half, a One Direction tiktok edit, my favorite coworker quitting, the book Sunrise on the Reaping, getting promoted, Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, thinking i would have to miss my sister’s wedding because I couldn’t make it back to india, and then again when i booked my flight to go to india for said wedding. Essentially, I cry a lot and I’m totally and completely okay with that. It’s cathartic.
How long does the pride and joy of accomplishing something last for you?
It is fleeting. Unfortunately, the negativity bias is very real for me, so I dwell on my mistakes and failures for far too long, and bask in the sunshine of achievement only until the next tiniest mistake overshadows it completely. It is something I am working on becoming more aware of and trying to balance.
Do you believe in an afterlife, and if so, what does that look like to you?
I don’t believe in a traditional afterlife — no heaven, no hell, no judgement day. I think we get one life, and this is it. What we do with it is up to us, and the consequences of our actions catch up to us here, not somewhere else. That said, I do believe in the universe. I believe in energy, in karma, in some kind of unseen order. And I like to believe that when someone dies, they’re still watching over the people they love. I’m not sure if that contradicts my disbelief in an afterlife — maybe it does. Maybe it is just what I tell myself to let myself feel like people we lose are always with us in some way.
What do you hate most about yourself?
I hate how much I overthink things and how quickly I can take them personally. Even when the rational part of me knows that my roommate not being particularly chatty after a long day doesn’t mean she hates me, or that tough critique doesn’t mean I’m a terrible designer, I still sometimes jump to the worst possible conclusion. It takes up too much mental energy and only makes me more stressed. I hate that I’m not better at regulating that yet.
What do you love most about yourself?
My passion. I spent so much time moderating how much passion I expressed, whether it was about my work, a niche conspiracy theory, my favourite TV show, or my favourite band, just in order to ‘fit in’. But I was so lucky to go to a college surrounded by people who showed me that passion is power, even if other people think you’re weird because of it. I love that I was able to reclaim my obsessive, ‘crazy fangirl’ nature, and feel things loudly and proudly.
What is your absolute favorite meal?
My mother’s Chhole (spiced chickpeas) and Kulcha stuffed with onions and green chilies, with extra chaat masala on the side.
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