Girl on Rise

Hemani Badyal

For today’s edition of ‘We The Women’, we have brought for you journey of another thriving youngster from the state, who aims to contribute in restoration of limping heart of the city, The Mubarak Mandi, for which she is equipped with Masters degree in World Heritage and Cultural Projects for Development, University of Turin, Italy and internship experience at the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), Rome. Without further ado, let’s read on to know more about this girl who is on rise.
Hemani Badyal is a conservation architect as well as cultural heritage consultant. Her professional experience in cultural heritage includes documentation of the built heritage, developing conservation management plans, interpretation and re-use plans to preparation of nomination dossier for World Heritage Sites.
Yes, you can reread that. Not a typical career choice. Isn’t it? Learning that one wonders if it was always a dream or she simply stumbled upon it.
Well, it’s none of the both. One can say that the way to this professional destination unfolded as she accomplished one small goal after another; which is continuing even today with higher targets to achieve on her way.
Fortunate for us, pulling out Mubarak Mandi from the shambles it is in by engaging her knowledge and experience in constructing viable solution is one of her most prioritized targets. I am often fascinated by not only the dreams but also by the instances that must have evolved them as a person to dream so refine and clear.
So, let’s have a look back at her journey. First child to Dr. Anuradha and Hemant Sharma, Hemani was exposed to intellectually broader socio-cultural-economic environment, owing to her father’s administrative and mother’s educational career background. After finishing school in 2008 from Presentation Convent School, Hemani went forward to pursue B. Arch, getting inspired by her uncle and graduated from Lovely Professional University, Punjab in 2013. She continued her studies by getting enrolled for Master’s degree.
Hemani picked ‘Architecture and Settlement Conservation’ for M. Arch on being encouraged by her mother, who brought in Hemani’s attention its application back in Jammu on various heritage sites. While acquiring degree of M. Arch (from CEPT, Ahmedabad which finished in 2015) Hemani was also involved with INTACH Jammu Chapter for listing of built heritage in Jammu and Rajouri district and photo- documentation of the built heritage along the Mughal route, Jammu & Kashmir (2014 – 2015) as a conservation intern.
The experience in the said internship piqued as well as boosted Hemani’s interest in the state’s heritage further. For her thesis for Master’s, Hemani researched about Rani Chadak Mahal (Mubarak Mandi) which included building documentation, preventive conservation and restoration intervention in the Mahal. According to Hemani this instance led her to get emotionally attached to the Mubarak Mandi site.
After completion of her Masters, she worked on site at City Palace, Udaipur with DRONAH, where she was responsible for coordinating and executing the various phases of conservation works on-site, as per the Conservation Management Plan for the City Palace. She was involved in the preparation of World Heritage Nomination Dossier for the walled city of Jaipur, Rajasthan with DRONAH.
Being a Cultural Heritage Management practitioner, she has been equally interested and involved in both the technical aspects and social process of conservation.
According to Hemani conservation is not just raising the structure and conserving the facade, in fact it has plurality and immersive inclusiveness as a concept and hence has a broader meaning. It involves the historic interpretation of the side and realistic utilization of it.
Hemani’s inclination towards linking Heritage Conservation to Sustainable Development, directed her towards pursuing a second Masters in World Heritage and Cultural Projects for development at University of Turin, Italy in 2017. She also received the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation Scholarship for pursuing her course abroad.
The opportunity to pursue second Master’s at Turin, broadened her career perspectives and prospects, providing her with necessary competencies and skills for developing projects designed around a wide spectrum of cultural activities in the field of natural and cultural heritage, world heritage, creative cities, sustainable tourism, cultural & economic development and project cycle management.
Hemani further bolstered her resume by being an intern at the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), Rome, where she provided assistance in the development and implementation of a course on Management and Monitoring of World Heritage Sites with emphasis on agricultural landscapes on the World Heritage List.
Despite ample opportunities and scopes outside state, Hemani is back to Jammu and Kashmir to pursue her passion to conserve the rich cultural heritage of the state. Her recent involvement was in the preparation of Conservation Master Plan for Mubarak Mandi Palace with Sanrakshan Heritage Consultants, which is being undertaken by the Mubarak Mandi Jammu Heritage Society, Government of J&K.
Presently, she is working independently to build cultural heritage projects in Jammu city and exploring platforms which can support and fund such initiatives. Her current research focuses on the temples of Jammu built during the Dogra regime and developing a conservation management strategy for the same.
Even though a professional as young as Hemani has a lot to experience and achieve yet but with the right mindset and clear perspective she has we hope she does exceptional, both for herself and the state as she aspires too. Hemani points out that the role of cultural heritage in sustainable development must be explicitly recognised. She says, there are many heritage sites in Jammu which are still unidentified and undervalued due to lack of strengthened management systems and financial resources. It is important to identify the opportunities to unlock Jammu city’s vast cultural heritage potential for a sustained development.
Being from a profession which is not typically opted for, Hemani’s message resonates with her approach towards her life.
She says, “Don’t be scared to dream something eccentric and don’t hesitate to pursue it; if you have unassailable positive outlook and unfettering spirit and unwavering faith in yourself, you can achieve all you want. That’s what I believe and follow.”
Updated On 1/23/2019 8:08:54 PM