Computational Mama

I’ve been consistently trying to find funds for the Sun Shines Bright project. Somehow, things are not aligning. After reaching the end rounds of Stimulering Fonds Grounding the Cloud and the Mozilla Fellowship, I feel like there is something which is not aligning for funders in this project. But as is always the case, I continue to push forward with the efforts towards my research. Keeping that in mind, here are some updates from the project and why I’ve chosen to make it portable and trying to redefine the ideas of what an AI interface might be. I am writing a longer post about the details of building this yourself on the Solar Archive website. But essentially, with a lot of help from the documentation available on the PiSugar website and some support from Claude Code, I was able to pull this off quite easily. Thanks to @alexiamathieu , @head_mediadesign , @ploipailin , @aixdesign.co , @aarati.online , @nanditi.k @sameeramudgal whose support for the larger idea of Sun Shines Bright financially, emotionally and intellectually has been so important And also, much thanks to the amazing wave of cyberdeck girlies that have been creating their own cute iterations of cyberdecks pushed me to continue (Gen-z girlies you are so cool!) Funders I’m here 🫶♥️💰💳

Ajaibghar’s code.drift reimagines the city as an unfolding composition. Through code, movement, and open-source tools, everyday urban encounters become immersive sound and visual landscapes. @ajaibghar.co @nanditi.k @computational_mama #GDLFellows #ConsciousCollective #GodrejDesignLab #DesignForPeople

At Conscious Collective, Ajaibghar present code.drift, developed by Nanditi Khilnani and Computational Mama during their time as fellows at Godrej Design Lab. Rooted in the idea of the dérive, an unplanned yet attentive walk through the city, code.drift translates lived urban experience into generative sound and visuals. Using open-source tools such as p5.js and Sonic Pi, the project transforms observation into immersion. What emerges is not a fixed output, but a situated portrait of place, shaped by context, code, and collective intuition. Conceived as an open and community-centric platform, code.drift extends Ajaibghar’s belief that technology can deepen belonging and cultural memory. @ajaibghar.co @nanditi.k @computational_mama #ConsciousCollective #GDLFellows #GodrejDesignLab #DesignForPeople

loud stage, soft hearts, live code 💫 grateful for this glitchy, generous community --> @codedrift.collective not a band, not a crew, but an expanding/amorphous blob of wanderers 💗

Find Ajaibghar at Mumbai Climate Week as part of Conscious Collective @godrejdesignlab from February 17th to 19th, at the Jio Convention Centre! Join us as we explore the intersection of design, sustainability, and future thinking, where every detail sparks a deeper conversation. Don’t miss out! #GodrejDesignLab #MumbaiClimateWeek #ConsciousCollective #DesignForPeople Reposted from @godrejdesignlab

Sun Shines Bright: Thinking about AI & Design in times of climate crisis As designers, we’re often asked to fix the future, but how can we act if we don’t understand the tools shaping it? Our next workshop will be led by @computational_mama It will be a space to slow down, and re-imagine AI through feminist, non-Western, and collective frameworks. We’ll unpack the infrastructures behind AI and learn how to build and host our own local language models, and imagining alternatives rooted in care, resilience, and inclusivity. Over 5 days, we’ll talk, watch, question, build, break, and rebuild: from critical AI bots and conversational interfaces to mini data centers and renewable energy prototypes. #LocalLLM #FeministAI #DesignForClimate

We had an inspiring and thought provoking symposium titled ‘Algorithms got the power (?)’ last week together with our friends at @dat.artez.nl @artezuniversityofthearts . With the speakers > Katarina Petrović @james_blondich > Ambika Joshi> @computational_mama and > Richard Vijgen @richardvijgen sharing their practice and exploring their relationships to machine learning, learning in communities, AI tools, networks, the use of  LMM, creative systems and processes and more. Students also engaged in Lunch Specultation - organised by @dat.artez.nl student Ying Drubbel. We also had a screening of the student work done as part of the workshop by @jeancharlescounet titled Outer Shell / Inner space as well as the workshop TRIPTOPUS! led by Doeke Wartena and Merijn van Moll. In Triptopus! students engaged in digital gardening by sculpting objects with various (8!) tools - analogue, digital, AI and whatever - but not in that order! iteration and the order of process was central to the experiences and engagement with the works. In Outer Shell / Inner Space students looked at the friction between observed reality and synthetic subconscious. Documentary film captures the maker’s perception and observation. Generative AI adds a new dimension as instrument for expression. Behind optical reality lies Inner Space: a chaotic landscape of emotions, memories and abstractions that eludes perception. What visual language emerges when documentary truth collides with algorithmic hallucination? Thank you to all the students for participating! 🤟

First playtest of "code.drift: the game" at Studio345 @sandboxcollective with @shiva__pathak and her wonderful collaborators on project Mori Daatidha Veera and many new friends in Bangalore! What a joyful day drifting through Cooke Town guided by the crazy ways of the game and making playful code potions with sounds and sights of the neighborhood 🧙🏻‍♀️✨ Thank you all for making a Monday feel like Sunday and sharing space, time, and enthusiasm with the code.drift collective! Quoting the Situationists - "We demand games with great seriousness". Here's to more such game days and drifts 🎉👯‍♀️ Wonder what this is? We turned code.drift into a game - making creative coding playful and shared. It opens new ways of observing our surroundings and collecting stories and impressions through whacky cards and gameplays. Learning code, music, visual art also happens naturally through play and shared explorations. [friends > wanderings > code > creation]

code.drift:THE GAME 🪄 If creative coding feels like magic, this game is your perfect potion companion. We will drift through the lanes of Cooke Town, collecting potion ingredients. Using the sights and sounds we gather, we will craft visual and soundscapes with magical code potions. Join us for a playtest of code.drift:THE GAME. Created by Ajaibghar and collaborators this board game opens out creative coding to all. 19th January, 2026 (Monday) 12 PM - 4 PM 📍Studio 345, Cooke Town Registration Link in bio This workshop is in collaboration with an arts and research project Mori Datidhaa Veera (The warrior who crossed the drain) This Foundation Project, implemented by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) under the Project 560 programme, as well as the Project 560 Festival, are made possible with support from BNP Paribas India. #moridaatidhaveera

In a special workshop by Ajaibghar, Code Yatris joined Nanditi Khilnani and Computational Mama to transform a year of Code Yatra insights into a live-coded performance. Their mix of visuals, soundscapes, and improvisation amazed the audience and opened up conversations about the creative potential of tech. The performance highlighted how coding, design, and art can intersect to build new forms of expression. @ajaibghar.co @nanditi.k @computational_mama @daminirathore @nanabacana (conscious collective, godrej design lab, workshops, experiences, installations, immersive arts, creative community, design conversations, outdoor activities, food & culture, sustainable living, mindful experiences, mumbai events, december events, register now, creative festival, design festival, weekend plans, things to do in Mumbai) #ConsciousCollective #CC2025 #GodrejDesignLab #DesignForPeople

Design is often seen as something reserved for those with access. to certain spaces, tools, and forms of education. Through code.drift and code.yatra, Ajaibghar works to undo that idea, building playful, judgment-free environments where anyone can step into creative technology. For performers, designers, and visual artists alike, these tools open up new dimensions of expression, letting bodies, materials, and computation speak to each other in unexpected ways. Many participants discover that tech doesn’t limit creativity; it activates it. Coding becomes an extension of their own practice, from analog collages to movement work, an overlap where logic, intuition, and play coexist. Because code isn’t only for apps or software, it can be a way to make, to experiment, and to rethink how simple ideas can solve complex problems. (creative coding, coding, technology, fellowship program, fellows, community, group activity) @computational_mama @nanditi.k @ajaibghar.co #GodrejDesignLab #GDLFellows #DesignForPeople

Through code.drift, Ajaibghar treats coding as a hands-on material practice. Workshop participants or code.yatris start by walking the city, collecting sounds and visuals that become the basis for beats, samples, simple melodies, and coded patterns. The visual work follows the same approach, leaning on collage to build from what’s been gathered. The drift is structured in pairs on purpose, two participants merging their recordings, perspectives, and decisions into one output. It’s a clear, process-led way to show how shared narratives are shaped through observation, iteration, and code. (creative coding, coding, technology, fellowship program, fellows) @computational_mama @nanditi.k @ajaibghar.co #GodrejDesignLab #GDLFellows #DesignForPeople