From College Batchmates to Architecture Firm Founders: The Early Days of Rootsense in Delhi Part 1

To think about it today almost feels like a fairytale…

It starts in the fine summer of 2017, when Yashvi, Jeevesh, and I, the three co-founders of Rootsense had just joined the School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada.

Back then, we obviously didn’t know each other. We didn’t even feel the need to. We were three very different personalities with our own visions and goals. Naturally, we fell into different circles in college and hardly interacted. Little did we know that life would one day bring the three of us together. But that’s not the full story...if I told you everything in the first paragraph, where would the tale be?

SPA Vijayawada felt like a world of its own. Disconnected from the rest of the world, down-to-earth, and a true melting pot of languages, cultures, and perspectives.

The campus that unknowingly brought the three of us together – SPA Vijayawada

In those 600-700 students, there was a young girl named Yashvi. Innocent, somewhat protected, she had joined with a passion she carried since she was 14 to become an architect. She didn’t fully know then that the realities of life are rarely as fancy as our dreams.

Some might call it delusion. I call it passion. She was always strong in academics, straightforward, reserved, and in many ways the perfect example of a focused college student, with small bursts of fun here and there. She was good company, and deep down, she was a loyalist—someone who would stand by the people she truly connected with. But when she joined, that wasn’t her plan. Like most at that age, she had her own personal turmoils. She thought she would just attend classes, keep connections surface-level, get her education, and focus on her career. How wrong she would turn out to be?

Then there was Jeevesh Lomor, the kind of person who felt like a trump card. A reserved boy from Delhi, a typical Delhi soul through and through. He didn’t join architecture dreaming of becoming the best architect or having the perfect college life. Like many students in India, it wasn’t even his first choice. In high school, he had taken engineering graphics and knew he was good at it. That showed his attention to detail, patience, and a hidden creative side that would slowly come out over the five years. He was as reserved as they come, but those who knew him understood he had a sharp, critical, and straightforward view of the world. Coming from a background where pay largely defined success, he quickly realised architecture might not be the most lucrative path. Yet something made him stay.

And then there’s me, Siddhant Agrawal. Even writing this feels a bit strange now. What was I back then? Most people around me would probably have different answers, but I was still a kid at heart in a body that was supposed to become adult. Not a manchild, just someone with a naïve understanding of the world. I believed everyone was basically good and right.

Oh boy, how wrong I was.

I had my own share of problems, but relatively speaking, I came to college mainly to explore life to the fullest for those five years, far away from home. Anyone who has been around me knows I didn’t miss many chances. That led me to talk to all kinds of people—some good, some not so good—but each one unique. In the process, I wasn’t very loyal to any one group. I felt uncomfortable staying with just one circle. There was a fear of missing out, and I had come exactly for this experience.

So then… what changed?

Siddhant, Yashvi, and Jeevesh – three very different people who barely knew each other in the early days

Three people. Three completely different stories. We barely knew each other back then.

So how did we end up founding Rootsense together? Stay tuned for Part 2, where we dive into how these three very different paths converged to create Rootsense. Subscribe to our newsletter for more stories from the journey, behind-the-scenes insights, and design reflections.