By Nandini Trivedi

Creativity can be defined as the willingness to be courageous, adventurous and to try new things. When I met the artist Suril N. Desai for ‘Swar Gurjari’ YouTube channel interview, who is a lawyer by profession, I found him so humble, thoughtful, intelligent, loving and passionate about painting, music and literature.

Suril creates magic through his painting in this video. Bharatraj, a disciple of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia is playing flute and the background music is by Shpongle – Divine Moments of Truth, UK based music group.

Suril Desai is an artist, poet, lawyer, music lover and filmmaker from Mumbai. Suril has created over 700 canvases in about 3 years with his practice of No mind meditation. He has already had 3 successful shows in Mumbai, Madrid (Spain) and Rome (Italy) of his beautiful paintings.

After a heart surgery at the age of 37, Desai, an established lawyer with an international management degree, suddenly found himself confined at home. This is when he picked up a paintbrush and started to express himself through art, guided by his mentor Kisalay Vora.

The lawyer-turned-artist was drawn to painting because he feels it helps bring people together. “To me, art is an opportunity for people to come together to share how they see the world in radically different ways. What draws me towards art and other forms of cultural expression is that disagreement is accepted and embraced as an essential ingredient,” he says, adding that creating art is like therapy for him. “At a personal level, art is truly therapeutic. I started painting as a form of therapy, however soon it turned into a newfound passion.”

Suril’s paintings are well appreciated by renowned artists like Amitabh Bachchan and A.R. Rehman. “The strongest people I have met have not been given an easier life; they’ve learned to create strength and happiness from dark places. Suril has found the strength to inspire others with his talents – poetry and painting,” wrote Amitabh Bachchan in a letter to the artist. AR Rahman said, “Art is the best dialogue for change.”

When asked about his future plans with art, he is quick to reply with his motto – carpe diem-Live in the moment and enjoy life. “I live day-to-day and don’t make any grand plans. I still am at a very early stage of being a student of the art; it’s been just about 3 years. I would like to learn how to use colors more effectively. The artist within me is very young and yet to fully emerge,” he concludes with a smile.

Suril has written very thoughtful poetry. He writes:
I only see the water
And the cup is floating in it
Now tell me…
It’s full or empty?
If it gets full
The cup will sink
If it stays empty
It will continue to float!
Such a deep meaning in this poem.

His message to all is “pick up a brush to paint, pick up some instrument and make beautiful music, do anything to make your heart sing with joy. Celebrate your life.”