India, July 25 -- Does your lamp light your table up just right? Does your water bottle fit easily in your hand?

"Design is everywhere, and designers have the power to influence lives - for better or worse," says product designer A Balasubramaniam, 64.

Earlier this month, he became the first Indian to win the prestigious Hills Millennium Award. Here are three quick questions with Balasubramaniam. (For the full interview, click here.)

* Why design?

I feel like I didn't really discover design; design discovered me.

I was born in Rajkot, Gujarat but travelled across India as my father had a transferable job with the Life Insurance Corporation. Through it all, my mother, a homemaker, was sort of my creative partner. She could make even t...