Beginning the conversation with a brief history of her husband Nimish Patel’s family background, Parul goes on to talk about the shared histories of both their families given their engagements with the Indian freedom movement and influential work done during the British Raj. She shares fascinating anecdotes from the time and notes how her husband’s grandfather was one of the most famous TB specialists in India, while his father was also an influential man. In this manner, she describes their family tree in detail. She notes how the furniture made by him still stands in great condition, and how he passed on his education to another child that he trained himself. She mentions how Nimish’s travel and life were more connected to central and southern Indian regions, while her own was more connected to North India. She also details how and why they came to settle in Ahmedabad, and goes on to talk about her experience of taking up a course with MIT in Urban Design Settlement, describing minute details of the curriculum and work involved. She also talks about the socio-political and economic environment surrounding China and South Asian countries during the 70s, the time of emergency, and the exposure that Indians started getting to modern architecture. She explains how these events became a part of their studies and curriculum, and notes how the political and cultural climate at the time led to the formation of an organisation called the Indian People’s Association of North America (IPANA), which still continues to exist. 

After sharing detailed instances, memories of fun experiences, and learnings from her studies abroad, Parul shares comments about the nature of development in the US as she observed it first-hand. Referring to the second world war and the capitalist economy and culture of the country, she also shares reflections on the town planning and spatial architecture of one city or another, remarking how they all looked the same. She concludes with comments on modern architecture and her disappointment with it.