Sunil Mehra's paintings have various shades of the childhood of Krishna with Radha. The devotee speaks to Karan Bhardwaj
While designers or artists need “multiple inspirations” to come up with something new, it is Sunil Mehra's longstanding devotion towards Krishna which stands out. He greets you with “Hare Krishna” and embodies his Krishna bhakti. From the apparels to his stores, residence or daily routine, Krishna is everywhere. “It’s been close to twenty years now. lord Krishna and Radha have dominated by life,” says the humble designer.
like every year on Janamashtmi, he has come up with some paintings on Krishna lila. The exhibition is called Birth of love and displays ten paintings of varied sizes. One of the paintings shows a small Radha approaching her love. “Radha’s parents went to congratulate Yasoda when Krishna was born. Radha, who was in her father’s lap, went crawling to Krishna’s swing. So, they were basically connected since birth. With Krishna, love was born,” says the designer-artist.
The other painting has Krishna offering makhan (butter) to Radha in a bal roop (child avatar). They are sitting on a lotus while peacocks are dancing around them. “Basically, it conveys that the whole world dances when “they” meet,” he says.
The designer first showcased his Krishna-inspired collection at Iskcon temple way back in mid-90s. Though the famous temple doesn’t allow “commercial shows”, it was Mehra who managed to convince the temple officials albeit several difficulties. “I was influenced by Osho. But somehow I found people funny at asharam as they were not inspiring at all. They would always go back to their routine life. So, there was no devotion. After I left the asharam, I created my first collection based on Krishna. Since then, there was no looking back. Each of my creation has Krishna element,” he shared. The 50-year-old gets up early in the morning and meditates Krishna for an hour. Then he feeds hundreds of birds on terrace.
His next A/W collection will be out early next month. “It is called Fragrance of love. I will be applying same concept on the clothes with fabrics like cashmeres and velvets,” he tells us.