ABSTRACT
Hema Sankalia, one of the early women architects, said that her whole life was a matter of default. She was born in Sialkot in undivided India, now in Pakistan, in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family. Her father was in Indian Medical Services and was educated in England. However, he died in 1935 in Lahore when Sankalia was only a year old. Thereafter, her mother Rama Bakhle moved to Mumbai with Sankalia and her sister Tara to live in their paternal uncle’s household. Her uncle was the general manager of Western Railways. Thus, hers was a socially and economically privileged and well-connected family. She joined Sir J. J. School of Art in 1951 when there were only three girl students in the class of 60. Rashmi Daftari and Chandramani Gandhi were the other girls in her class. Sankalia was not a focused student as she was highly involved in extracurricular activities; however, it was a great time to be in the Sir J. J. School of Art. Claude Batley was still alive, Mahtre and Merchant taught design studios and Durga Bajpai, who really awed the students, came to their juries. Anant Raje, Nozer Panthaky, Ratan Batliboy, Pheroze Kudianwala, Kamu Iyer and Dileep Purohit, all famous architects, were her contemporaries at Sir J. J. School of Art.
