Seema Parulekar

In Mumbai she had an opportunity to work on projects like Hotel Centaur and Hotel Ramada Inn Aurangabad under the able guidance of Architect P.D. Varthak. After the initial 7 years, she shifted to Chennai where she started off with just one project consecutively followed by couple more with language being her only challenge to overcome and there has been no looking back.

She credits her success to the way she managed to connect with her clients, be certain of it to have made a lot of difference along with their dedication, their presentation skills. Being from Mumbai was to an advantage, she recalls, and coming from a place that created utility in small areas and had got into the habit of looking into the culture of the way people liked to live there, their practices etc., became her success story. Her triumph is so profound that she has her first client from Chennai coming back today after 23 years for a revamp. Furthermore she found herself always leaning towards a challenging learning curve and loves to meet challenging people from whom she can learn.

Channeling her strength, she believes challenges are at every stage and at every project. It doesn’t come in a particular phase and that is what she anticipates the most. Rather than call it as challenge, she considers them as a unique opportunity of working on a design solution. Recollecting a boutique hotel designed by her, located into a busy street in the city it was designed to be a residence, only to be later converted to a hotel, where she had to re-plan the entire space converting it into a 32 room hotel with a banquet hall and a restaurant without disturbing the core structure. It was an amazing experience, is what she has to share.

On being asked about the strong foray of online portals for interior design into the field Seema quotes “Ready-made shirts made their foray into fashion just a few decades back, but their presence have not affected fashion designers. Similarly just because there is a mass production happening with the likes of online portals, an interior design profession, which is very articulated and unique will not be lost. We will always have people who will appreciate what is worthwhile.”

Technology in her opinion has taken a different stride altogether with today’s generation growing with computers. Designers play the key factor in converting technology to reality and the current generation she admits has technology in their corner to help them visualize a space easier than earlier times. Nevertheless she asserts, balance and proportion are very important and it’s always good to start with basics, pick the pencil.

On an identical note, she attributes, unlike a few years ago, there are not much differences between the cultures and lifestyles of people from different parts of the world, thanks to globalization, Internet playing a major role in it. It has had huge impact in her client base too, people have a definitive approach to what their living styles need to be while approaching a designer and on the designer front, it’s always been their prerogative to learn and exercise something new. This has enabled to let her grow Pan India.

Interestingly, as an example she reminisces a 15000 sq.ft bungalow, on the outskirts of Chennai, where the client required an alternative lifestyle at home, something that didn’t push them towards the city for the most basics of entertainment. She was able to deliver a fully automated residence with its state of art home theatre at a remote location far away from the city.

Acquiring inspiration from the five elements of nature, she aspires to work, Seema Parulekar now dreams of creating a ‘Hotel on the reefs’ a tangible space which is more functional as well as nature driven.