‘Dildaar’ Project initiated by NID Shines at SSDC 2025
NID Ahmedabad Students Win Top Honours at Global Design Challenge
BILKULONLINE
Ahmedabad, June 26: An interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, has clinched the Gold (1st place overall) in the prestigious 2025 Student Service Design Challenge (SSDC), held globally by the Service Design College.
Team Salamanders — comprising Aditi Modi (Product Design), Nikita Lakkaraju and Shiva Soni (Exhibition Design), Apurva Rouduri and Manuel K Mathew (Graphic Design), Ishna H Savadatti, and Sriya Reddy A (Furniture & Interior Design) — emerged victorious among 160+ student teams representing countries including the USA, China, Mexico, Australia, and Turkey.
Their winning project, the ‘Dildaar Initiative’, designed under the mentorship of faculty Shemal Pandya, focuses on connecting local aid efforts with global humanitarian networks. Centred on the distribution of home-cooked meals in Muslim communities across India, the service is uniquely delivered through WhatsApp — ensuring accessibility and cultural relevance.
In addition to the overall win, the team also secured Silver in the Red Cross brief, which challenged students to redefine giving in Islamic communities. Their project highlights storytelling, women’s participation, community collectives, and spiritual empathy as central pillars.
The jury hailed the project for being “beautifully grounded in food, community, and dignity,” and praised it as a “heartfelt and practical response to exclusion.”
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