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Gowri Shankar

Founder & Director

Gowri completed his B.E. in Civil Engineering from GKM Engineering College, Chennai in 2016. He currently focuses on business development and heads the interiors section of Merit League. Apart from structuring the process, he oversees marketing, formulates fresh ways to expand the team, and meets with new contractors, and architects from different cities through BNI, with the intention of expanding the network globally.

 

“I look for work that I’ve not yet attempted, work that I can learn from or involves something that I haven’t yet learnt about. No matter what the project is or who is involved, we take it up only if we feel a spark during the project narration stage, a spark that convinces us to go down that road.”

Gowri’s Story

In his own words…

I am mad about cinema and movies. Having constantly been exposed to posters and films, it instilled in me the desire to direct a film. Especially Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya in 2010. I believe that cinema is a wonderful medium, one that connects people with ease, one that offers recognition, and one that enables a person’s efforts and works to live for ages together. All of this enamoured me and made me fall in love with it.

 

Post my graduation, I wasn’t able to pursue cinema. That was when I decided on one thing.

“Onnu pudicha velaya seiyanum Ella padichadhukku undaana velaya seiyanum”

 

“One should either do a job they love or do a job that corresponds to what they studied”

I went back to what I felt about cinema – a wonderful medium, one that connects people with ease, one that offers recognition, and one that enables a person’s efforts and works to live for ages together.

Eureka moment

all of the above is achievable by a contractor!

The next step was to figure out how to make this dream a reality. After countless attempts to secure a job at a place that would help me achieve this dream of mine, I finally landed one, at Triple O Studio, an architectural practice co-founded by Tahaer Zoyab and Anupriya Subbian.

 

The interview was quite different from what was considered regular. I did not have the answers to any of the questions that were posed to me. But, this did not deter them. They appreciated the fact that I was honest about what I didn’t know.

 

I was asked to join the team.

Life at Triple O

Having never interned anywhere during my college days, the work culture here was quite new and different for me. I observed interns handling a great amount of work. ‘Maybe I did not make complete use of my four years at college’ my mind chided me.

 

I now had opportunities to travel with interns and architects and started to form bonds of friendship. I began to understand their thought process, purpose, and design language, especially on-site.

 

When I completed 8 months at Triple O, I was promoted to Chief Project Coordinator. I had just completed my very first, unofficial contracting work, a Writer’s Cafe kiosk at Phoenix Mall in 2017. I went on to be a part of several projects, of varying scales, designed by Triple O. Like how one says ‘God is in the details’, I was surrounded by many drawings and details. I was acting as the bridge between the architect, the contractor, and the client, and in the process learnt what, where, and how to speak; how to get the job done, essentially. After all, if one wants something to happen and puts in all the effort, it will happen, one way or the other.

ML’s Birth

As the company grew, so did the expectations in terms of quality. I began to observe that the contractors we were working with then needed to meet these expectations. This affected me in a big manner. I decided to take it up with Tahaer.

 

G: Tahaer, let’s work with some other contractor. I don’t think the present team is able to comprehend our thought process and work along.

 

T: Okay, then you take up the contracting.

 

And just like that, Merit League (ML) was born.

 

Tahaer and Anu believed in me more than I did, and pushed me to break my boundaries and explore beyond them. It was then ML who took up the contracting works for Triple O Studio and successfully completed them. Soon enough, another step was taken towards growth, and ML was engaged in contracting services with other architects and freelancers.

 
Today,

ML’s Ideology

ML’s vision has been, is, and will be to offer a space where architects and designers can approach the team without having any apprehension of the contractors fumbling up their design or vision, or without feeling the need to restrict their ideas. The purpose of ML is to execute the designers’ vision and ideology in a design language they prefer and believe in.

“Mudiyum nenacha mudiyum”

 

“If we think it is possible, then it will be possible”

The golden words that team ML swears by.

 

The entire team, including the site engineers and supervisors, are shown the planning and design and a discussion about what is going to be worked on and what is expected as the final output is had at the beginning of every project. This, we’ve found, piques their curiosity and results in utmost perfection. But, this is not to say that mistakes never happen; they do, and we accept these errors and shortcomings and ensure that the same is not repeated.

 

In short, we are not your regular contractor.

Prakash

Partner

Prakash completed his B.E. in Civil Engineering from GKM Engineering College, Chennai in 2016. He currently handles the architecture department and also focuses on simulating the process on site, apart from undertaking research on sustainable and heritage architecture.

Prakash’s Story

In his own words…

Ulundurpet – 606107
I come from Ulundurpet, and there was a time when I used to mention this pin code a lot.

 

I am a first-generation graduate in my family. I completed my schooling in Tamil medium; this was largely responsible for my thinking that it would be best if I did my engineering degree in Tamil medium as well.

Unlike a lot of my peers, I did not choose engineering just for the sake of it. I had a reason and a purpose. My grandfather was a mestri (foreman) and whenever we used to roam around in Ulundurpet, buildings that were constructed by him were often pointed out to me. He wasn’t alive then but, his buildings were. It was during those moments that a thought entered my mind, one that stayed on – “Even if we are not physically present, the things that we have achieved should speak volumes”. To date, there has been no whiff of even a crack or damage in the buildings that my grandfather built.

Once my schooling was done, I took the decision to move out as I strongly felt that I wouldn’t see the growth that I wanted if I stayed in Ulundurpet. I wanted to go to another city, study, and evolve. I left my home town in 2012 with the strong aspiration of coming back only after I achieved something. A fervent passion, a frenzy, inside of me fuelled this aspiration.

That passion, that frenzy, hasn’t been satiated yet. I am still yet to achieve all that I aspire to. And I am still yet to go back home. It has been more than a decade now since I visited my home town, the place I grew up in, the place I last saw in 2012.

Not a Regular College Life

My family bid farewell to me as I left for college with a few words of advice, advice that bordered along the lines that education is the one thing that will save us and that I should have only education, and nothing else, in my sights. This dug deep into my brain and ended up influencing how I experienced college life. No movies, no bunking – my college ended up being quite focused on studies and nothing else. Fulfilling my goal, I received my degree without any arrears, and my CGPA stood at 7.77.

 

Life has never been the way we want it to be. A case in point was what happened after I received my engineering degree. Instead of joining work as an engineer, I had to take up work as a cashier at a hotel. My familial circumstances did not allow me to apply for the jobs I wanted to.

The Site Engineer Story

Hotel Cashier to Site Engineer

The hotel I worked at saw an engineer frequent it regularly for his meals. Once, during a conversation he struck up with another cashier, I joined in and offered a suggestion, an engineering fact, pertaining to the discussion. Soon enough, my background was enquired and I was offered a position as a site supervisor for their company. Upon offering suitable notice to my hotel team, I left the cashier job and moved on.

The Engineer Story

The work at the sites I was assigned generally began by 09:30 am, but I decided to be there by 09:00 am, no matter what. At that point in time, I neither knew how to ride a bike nor drive a car; walking was my mode of travel, apart from taking buses and trains, and it was through these modes that I used to reach the sites. Not once did I use my circumstance as a reason.

 

I was asked to look after work on-site, but I wasn’t made to sit and be taught anything by anyone. Instead, I observed what was being done, how it was being done, and why it was being done. As days went by, I started offering suggestions and opinions on how it can be done. I have always liked planning. Planning tasks, sourcing the right materials, selecting the right kind of people to take on the responsibilities, and getting the job done perfectly.

 

I went on to work in this capacity for 4 years, and not one day went by where I was hesitant or bored. I oversaw over 55 houses, and the position enabled me to work with varied typologies of structures – residential apartments, individual villas, hospitals, commercial buildings, etc. Throughout this 4-year journey of mine, the one person who was there by my side was Vignesh. He worked as a General Manager at the same company. Vignesh motivated me a lot and appreciated my efforts and dedication towards the work I was responsible for.

 

From being a site supervisor I was promoted to senior site engineer. This was the last designation that I sported on my ID card for the company. COVID came and changed things along. I started facing issues with my salary, and my gut told me that I needed to move on. I left that position and took up a few contracting works for individual villas between 2019 and 2020. For the next two years, between 2020 and 2022, I handled the consultancy work for 6 individual villas.

Random Thoughts into Reality

Not all of my fellow batchmates currently practice as an engineer; only a few stayed in this field. One of them was Gowri. I had always been an admirer of his works and found them to be quite unique. Admiration turned to inspiration, and I wished to take up and deliver similar projects.

 

One momentous day, I got a call from Gowri who was running a firm called Merit League, which would, later on, become my destiny and my identity.

 

Up until then, although I had been happy with the work that I had helped deliver, I had never been content or satisfied. I had never taken up work that was new and challenging. I was the service provider and the end product was for the client, and my job ended at that. I hadn’t thought about what I wanted to do in the coming days, or the kind of work that I wanted to take up.

 

That was when Merit League came into the picture and offered me direction and a path to follow, a path towards what I could have in store for the coming days. Gowri’s thought process and his route plan towards expansion persuaded me to join ML. I was also convinced that I would get the recognition that I needed and deserved at ML.

 

Before joining ML, I had never spoken with architects, as my point of contact had always been real estate builders largely. At ML, it was the former with whom I had to interact. Everything was different, and soon enough I came to the realisation that I was evolving, and learning, and that I was in love with the whole process! But the process wasn’t without its hiccups. There were a lot of operational systems that were put in place by Gowri that I had to learn and get used to; it took me some time, initially, but along the way, I understood why Gowri insisted on them and what they offered to the company.

 

Now, when I look back, I realised that it was my hard work and sincerity towards work that enabled me to land in Merit League. I am a first-generation entrepreneur, and today, I have grown to become a Partner and Co-Founder and head the operations at ML. At the same time, I continue to quiz myself on what made Gowri give me a call and offer me a position at ML. He has still not offered any answer to this question of mine.

Gowri & Prakash

A bond that goes beyond being professional partners, a friendship where things are understood without having to explain. A boon.

 

A successful partnership needs two people who think in opposite directions, and each one requires a justified answer from the other to convince their inner self and accept the facts. This is what is present at ML. Gowri and Prakash argue a lot but in the end, if it’s good for ML, they come to a compromise and agree to it 🙂

 

The team is expanding, slowly, but steadily.

Mudiyum nu nineicha mudiyum

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