In dialogue with Hetvee Patel

She seemed silent, she seemed to be an observer.
She stayed amid the crowd, wishing with smile whenever she was in the sight of others. Hetvee Patel. Organizer of TEDxYouth @ Brookefield.

As I heard the word 'Hetvee' for the first time in  my life, I asked her the meaning of it. She said, 'lovely, lovable' lovingly. 

 Name, 'Hetvee,' sounded sweet, the way she is.

Hetvee Patel is a painter, an observer and a student at Christ University Bangalore, doing her Majors.

Days spent with her taught me to be grateful in life. Time spent with her taught me to be simple and happy.

She reminded me to keep myself happy than expecting others to make me happy. 

At the Infosys Global Training Centre.
L to R: Sid, Palak, Mariam, Shyam, Gnana, Myself, Mohit Ambani, Animesh and Hetvee

There's lot to learn from her.

On the roll with a conversation.


AR: What were your childhood dreams??
Hetvee: I always wanted to be a space scientist.

AR: Why everyone dreams of going to space?

Hetvee: No, I never meant that. I particularly make sure that I use the word 'scientist' every time but, not 'astronaut.'  I love learning about space.

AR: What are your dreams?

Hetvee: My hobby is Painting so, deep down I think I want to become a painter.

AR:  What are the routines you follow, to achieve your dream??

Hetvee: I paint very often. Not every day but, in a week I make sure that I paint at least two paintings.

AR: That's perfectly amazing. A lot of people miss it. They forget about routines while they often talk about dreams but, do nothing about it!
                                                                                              
Hetvee's painting.

AR: What kind of paintings do you do??

Hetvee: I do a lot of paintings with watercolors. I explored different mediums and later I realized that  watercolor paintings is my cup of tea. I'm comfortable with those.

AR: How you got introduced to painting??

Hetvee: There's a phase for every kid where they try something with crayons. From there I picked it up and never gave up.

AR: Did you ever paint on different canvases??

Hetvee: Yeah, I painted on Bangalore city walls.

AR: Tell me more about it.

Hetvee: There's a friend of my mom who had a start up. They were having a conversation about a white wall which had to be painted in a place nearby white field, (Bangalore). Even my sister is into drawing so, two of us alone went at early morning 5.30AM, painted a wall and came back. It was a good experience.

AR: How you got introduced to TED?

Hetvee: My dad used to show me many TED talks since I was small. They were amazing. As you know, Siddarth and I had a random conversation on a fine day. It was a random yet intense conversation.

Hetvee at her TEDx event.

We were like, "Let's organize TEDx event!". And then, from the next day it self, we started working together and it was all quick. We did it.

AR: How was the organizing experience ?

Hetvee: It was great. TED is an idea incubator. And I love ideas.

AR: Who are your favorite painters??

Hetvee: They're a lot of people on Instagram. They literally became famous through Instagram.  There are so many such artists. I drop a message about their art and they reply. It's nice to know about their art.
AR:  Do you often upload all your works on  internet?

 Party night picture

Hetvee: I don't do it often. I don't upload my works often. But, I paint very often.

AR: Why?

Hetvee: I don't have time to frame it, position it and  click it, forget about uploading!

AR: When was the last time you painted?

Hetvee: Tomorrow(13.2.17) we have an art exhibition for fund-raising. Before I started for Mysore, I painted around 40 greeting cards for  the event.  So, that was the last time I painted.

AR: What is painting to you?

Hetvee: It's the biggest thing in my life. I don't know what I'm gonna end up as but, I want to spend quality time in  painting and also want to have a side painting business for sure.
For sure!

Actually, there's a website where you can sell your artworks. When you set the price, they price it bit higher than your price and give what you tag. Many people suggested me to post, I didn't sell it till now.


AR: Why?

Hetvee: I like my work but, I don't think they're worthy enough to sell them on the website.

AR: You seemed to be a super-critic of yourself.

Hetvee: Not really.

AR: Define 'Art'

Hetvee: It's basically anything which let's you escape into your world. I don't think you plan and do it. It helps you escape from everything. If I need a break, I paint and I escape into my own world.

AR: What’s Romance to you?

Hetvee: That's another escape to everything. If you're romantic you escape into your world. If you're romantic, you forget things around you and you escape into your own world and be happy.

AR: I can totally relate to you but why always, 'escape' rather than 'entering into your world.'

Hetvee: Perspectives (with a laugh)

AR: Mention few romantic moments.

Hetvee: Simple things like sitting and staring at the stars. All these make my day. You don't  really have to go on a expensive date. Little time spent in nature can make you feel romantic.

AR: Mention a negative trait of you?

Hetvee: I over think and ruin it. It's a bad habit.

AR: That's good to  have such a clarity of thought on what you're up to. You know what your flaws are.

Hetvee: Yeah but, at the end of the day, I'm ruining  myself  because of my habits.

AR: You're not denying yourself. You're not creating perfect image of yourself by ignoring it.

Hetvee: Yeah

AR: You're gonna overcome it in near future.

Hetvee: I hope so.

AR: What is the scariest part in achieving your dream?

Hetvee: When you have particular idea and formulate it and when you're unsure of the process. Starting with that doubtful feeling is the scariest part of achieving the dream. That's a transitional phase, It's going to pass but, still it's the scariest part.

AR: When was the last time you had such kind of moment?

Hetvee: During the christmas break, I wanted to try something new so, I did an acrylic painting of a horse. It was a black and white painting. I was happy with it once I finished it. I showed it to my parents and everyone liked it. Everyone suggested me to sell my art. I took many pictures  from many angles and the more I saw it, the more I hated it.  I started feeling unsure of that work. It started looking uglier. I completely gave up on it.

AR: You look like super critic of yourself.

Hetvee: (Laughs again)

AR: What is your relationship with money?

Hetvee: I never thought about it. But I'm fully dependent on my parents. And I need a lot of money for my hobby. I need proper brushes, paper and stuff. My parents spend a lot of money buying me stuff just because I want them. They don't know if I can make things worthy but they blindly spend  money just to see me happy. That makes me feel guilty. That really makes me  feel guilty.


I can't wait till I get my own cash to do few works. When my parents offer to buy me stuff, I reject as, I want to try those with my own money. I restrict myself to few things that way.

AR: Why?

Hetvee: Because I don't feel good about it. I know they're my parents still, It's not my money. I find it weird in a way when people come to college in their parent's car and show off. "It's not your money!  You don't own it. You have no authority towards it."


AR: Define fame?

Hetvee: I shouldn't really use the word attention. I think it’s a spotlight. You deserve  attention for some efforts you put. You deserve bit appreciation for the work you put. In a way If you put some work, you deserve some appreciation. That appreciation  can be in the form of  a spotlight.  Fame is not really getting attention and looking down at people. Never that. That's not fame.

The time I spent with her was so beautiful, I wish I made a lot of conversations with her. After having a conversation with Hetvee, I had my turn to recall my memories of being intense, playful yet  be optimum about life. Hetvee is a happy girl who loves being simple. She claims herself to be antisocial but she easily got along with the all the TEDxers.  It's the idealism and realism, I see in her thoughts. She's adorable. I miss her even now, while I'm publishing this post.


To check her works, follow her at,
https://thebrushtheory.tumblr.com/