AHMEDABAD: What do Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital and Film City, Udaipur's Lake Palace Hotel, Chennai's Taj Coromandel, and a 135-feet glass mural - the biggest in the world - in Dubai's Ramada Hotel, have in common?

If this question has left you foxed, the answer will make your jaw drop. All these structures have been designed by an Amdavadi, I M Kadri, whose list of famous projects as an architect looks endless. In the late 70s, when Ahmedabad was not exactly known for its modern architecture, Kadri was silently charting a growth path that soon made him one of the most sought-after architects in India.

However, Kadri's self-confessed "biggest regret" is that he never could work in Ahmedabad. "I have almost retired now. It is too late to take up more projects," he said, when asked if he would take up any project in the state if approached. "My work has always spoken for me. I have never applied for a tender or asked for a project. Somehow, I never got an offer from Gujarat. It hurts that I have built some much across the country, but donr very little in the place where I was born."

Kadri, now 82, spent his childhood in Raikhad's Diwan Haveli and studied in Anjuman-E-Islam school in Astodia. He completed inter-science course from Gujarat College and then left for Pune to study architecture. His father was Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's first deputy mayor.

"I shifted to Mumbai after studies and started getting few projects. So I never thought of returning to Ahmedabad. But I still cherish the memories of going to school and college on bicycle," says Kadri, who was appointed the Sheriff of Bombay in 1994 in recognition of his extensive social work.

Despite this, he makes it a point to come to Ahmedabad 3-4 times in a year and spend time with his old friends talking about their childhood days.

"I had seen a much cleaner, greener and peaceful Ahmedabad. But now it has changed drastically," says Kadri, whose glass mural in Dubai earned him an entry into the Guinness Book of Records.

Kadri takes pride in saying that they never applied in any tendering process for buildings but got work only through word-of-mouth.

An avid reader, Kadri is also a voracious collector of art works, and also has a collection of 500 cufflinks!