Enter the new office premises of Creativeland Asia in Kurla, Mumbai and it’s like walking into the rarefied atmosphere of academia, the exposed brick walls reminiscent of well known business schools that wear a similar look. It turns out that Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder and Chairman of Creativeland Asia, has designed the interiors himself, and consciously sought to recreate the aura of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, campus where he grew up. Therefore, the bricks we talk of have come all the way from Ahmedabad – the same high quality Katkona bricks used at NID and IIM-A – said to be conducive to thinking and creativity. The entranceway has on display a four-seater dining table – literally the birthplace of the company - before it could move into an office. One corner of the office is being prepped to set up a potter’s wheel and an oven where people can bake fresh bread to destress. “Creative people need to get their hands dirty once in a while. The touch of earth is essential. And nothing better than the aroma of freshly baking bread to awaken the mind,” muses Kurup, who has built the company from scratch since he set it up in 2007. It’s been an eventful journey, says Kurup, with its share of ups and downs. After the success of the initial years, the agency took a hit in revenue after the parting of ways with marquee client Parle Agro Ltd in 2015, but it bounced back soon after with a plethora of new business wins, notable among them the integrated mandate for the Godrej Masterbrand. Alongside, it transitioned from being a single agency to a group of specialist units, roping in a full-time Chief Executive Officer, Rana Barua, to add scale to its operations. Clocking revenue figures just short of Rs 100 crore in the last financial year, Kurup is today a happy man, looking to drive his agenda of “infusing at least a drop of creativity in every person’s mind”. The conversation veers to Kurup’s other big interest – the study of history, religions and ancient cultures and sciences related to the human mind – that no doubt fuel his creative work. Kurup relates interesting findings from his reading - how sindoor originated in China and made its way to India, why Muslims in Kerala are called Naalaam Vedhakkaar (practitioners of the fourth Veda), how ‘Aum’, ‘Ameen’ and ‘Amen’ have deeper than phonetic linkage... “Creativity is my religion. I want to be a creative mystic,” Kurup declares.