 He was a leader of "Swaraj Sena", a student organisation which was affiliated with All India Students Federation (AISF)

Hemu Kalani was born in Sukkur, Sindh (now in Pakistan) on 23 March 1923.He was the son of Pesumal Kalani and Jethi Bai.As a child and young man he campaigned with his friends for boycotts of foreign goods and tried to persuade people to use Swadeshi goods.