Nalini Thakur talks about her childhood interests and life, being deeply interested in pop music, reading, and recalls an earlier interaction with Piloo Mody as a student, along with her days at studying in Delhi at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA). She notes how even though their curriculum didn’t focus on local architecture or studying things that were around them, her interest in observing her surroundings helped her peak in the field. Speaking of continuing her studies in conservation, she talks about the way the field has evolved over years because practitioners are not applying themselves as they should. She then notes how she learnt how to teach the subject and then goes on to describe her teaching journey in detail. She mentions the different courses she taught at SPA, Delhi, after which she shifted to a practice in conservation. She details her struggle while pursuing her passion in the field of conservation, as well as the legal and other battles she had to engage in. 

Talking about her early education before joining SPA, she begins talking about the various projects she undertook both at SPA and professionally. She also describes the challenges she faced along the way and the mistakes she made, from which she gained significant learnings. She further notes that one of her design strengths was working on housing projects and shares her comments on it. She also recalls why the topic selected for her thesis was not a good choice at the time. Talking about her association with SPA, she recalls interacting with Cyrus Jhabvala and how he guided her. On her teaching experience, she mentions all the support and learning she gained along the way, and concludes by commenting on how things have changed.