Social behaviour cannot be understood out of its natural context. To understand Indian people we must know the social context in which they live. In classless and casteless North America, one man cleaning the house of another to make a living is quite acceptable, but in India, if a Brahmin sweeps the house of a low caste Hindu, it would be news. In Hindu India two institutions define the relationship of one man to another to form a system of rigid social convention. First, is the caste system and second, the social status acquired by a combination of various factors like by ones vocation, success, fame and wealth. The golden boys of India are those who have a university education, a white-collar job paying them high a salary or international recognition. In modern India and especially amongst the more educated Hindus, traditional or old-fashioned caste sensibilities do not play a great social role these days except to a diminishing degree in marriages, but class sensibilities do in working relationships in a company or in a professional field. A mentor or boss is still a person to revere and fear and one who will consider it beneath him to personally attend to his subordinates.

Architect Doshi, a Hindu and an architect of international stature, is one of the rare exceptions to the general rule. He has the air of a mystic who is forever trying to fathom the philosophical base to design buildings and to understand people. Doshi’s philosophy simply permeates him and makes him so glowingly alive. Doshi exudes art, architecture, culture and class, in a serene but vibrant manner. Doshi is not an idle visionary but a very practical one: he is an expert in so deftly sketching and translating even the most abstruse and abstract spaces and giving them a concrete form with fluent mastery. When it comes to quality of work he is a hard taskmaster no doubt. He transcends conventions and deals with his fellow beings in a purely human and personal way. His mind is highly active and disciplined, alert to every small detail, constantly synthesising his experience into rational and highly expressive art and philosophy. Doshi has gained international repute for his work which is now recorded in some of the most prestigious publications. He is a living embodiment of his creativity and beliefs. Little things in Doshi’s personal and private life reveal the human side of Doshi’s character.

I had finished my third year in architectural studies at IIT of Kharagpur in India, when by college rules, I had to serve a four-month internship with some successful architect in practice. I had applied for and was accepted as an intern by Doshi. I felt privileged and flattered to discover that Doshi liked my work and took a personal interest in me. On the completion of my internship Doshi made me an offer to work for him after I finish my education which I did two years later. I was not quite sure if Doshi had meant what he said with great seriousness but he had. After finishing my studies, I joined Doshi’s firm and worked on projects based on Corbusierian thought. A year later he moved me to the National Design Institute, to have an opportunity to work on the Indian Institute of Management project, designed by Louis Kahn. Two years later, I left for Canada on a Commonwealth scholarship to study for my Masters Degree at the University of Toronto. During my own architectural practice in Canada, Doshi’s influence always inspired and guided me.

Years later when I was visiting India, I made it a point to meet Doshi. He had moved his office in to a new complex but he himself had remained unchanged. The same mystic energy, discipline and friendliness were emanating from Doshi. I felt as if I had never left him and continued where I had left off. Doshi was quite pleased to see one of his former apprentices remember and visit him even though I was the last of the batch of his former interns to visit him. To my surprise he invited me to his home and insisted that I stay with him. Doshi gave me his own bedroom to stay in. Next morning, after breakfast, when it was still cold, Doshi dressed simply and wrapped himself in a shawl and personally drove me to Ahmedabad railway station. He then shepherded me to my reserved seat on the train and as the train left waved goodbye.

Throughout my visit with Doshi, he treated me as if I was a VIP or his close friend and took so much personal interest in my comfort while I stayed with him. This was a touching example of the former master attending to his pupil in the spirit of any true religion. I was humbled and impressed by the spirit of a man who had without any self-consciousness, casually and gracefully transcended all the rigid conventions that still define so much of Indian society. Doshi, in my mind, is a great architect because he is also a great human being, an exemple of a man who enhances my awareness of beauty and restores my faith in humanity.

NOTE: This article was prepared with the assistance of Jaysingh Korgaonkar.

Arvind Narale, a retired architect lives in Markham, Ontario.