ABSTRACT

Hema Patel studied architecture in Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Baroda, in 195964. Her father was a civil engineer involved in building construction, and her elder brother Hasmukh Patel is a well-known architect. Her father had encouraged all of his six children towards professional courses. Patel’s three sisters are medical doctors, but she had set her heart on architecture from her tenth standard. At that time MSU had 20% out-of-state students (including from Africa), so the interaction was good in the department. The ratio of girls to boys was 1:8. Minakshi Jain (profiled in this book) and Nalini Otiya were her batchmates. Patel remembers Suryakant Patel and artist Pingleji as her favourite teachers. She was greatly inspired by Pingleji’s aesthetical values in architecture. The first couple of years were spent in learning the basics of architectural education, but then she fell passionately in love with it. She even stood second in her class in the final year. Because of her background, Patel was design conscious from the beginning and has been interested in gardening as well as designing jewellery and clothes since her early teens.