Sunita Kohli Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More
Sunita Kohli Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More
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Quick Info→
Age: 76 Years
Husband: Ramesh Kohli
Hometown: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Bio/Wiki | |
---|---|
Full name | Sunita Surya Kohli check sources Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook |
Nickname | Guddi check sources Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook |
Profession(s) | Interior Designer, Architectural Restorer, Furniture Manufacturer, Author, Social Activist |
Physical Stats & More | |
Height (approx.) | in centimeters**- 165 cm** in meters**- 1.65 m** in feet & inches**- 5’ 5”** |
Eye Colour | Brown |
Hair Colour | Salt & Pepper |
Career | |
Awards, Honours | 1991: Mahila Shiromani Award check sources K2India ![]() ![]() 1992: Padma Shri by the Government of India for work in the field of "Architectural Restoration and Design" check sources K2India ![]() |
Personal Life | |
Date of Birth | 28 December 1946 (Saturday) |
Age (as of 2022) | 76 Years |
Birthplace | Lakshmi Mansion (the Victoria Building), Lahore, Pakistan check sources Forbes |
Zodiac sign | Capricorn |
Nationality | Indian |
Hometown | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India check sources Royal Over-Seas League |
School | Roman Catholic School, Lucknow |
College/University | • Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi check sources Forbes • Lucknow University check sources Forbes |
Educational Qualification(s) | • Graduated in English Literature at Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi check sources Forbes • Pursued a Master of Arts degree in English at Lucknow University check sources Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook |
Company | K2India check sources K2India |
Food Habit | Non-vegetarian check sources The Hindu |
Address | 31st, Golf Link, Ground Floor, Frount Apartment, New Delhi check sources School of Planning and Architecture |
Relationships & More | |
Marital Status | Married check sources Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook |
Marriage Date | 21 November 1971 check sources Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook |
Family | |
Husband/Spouse | Ramesh Kohli check sources Forbes ![]() ![]() |
Children | Son- 1 • Suryaveer Kohli (CEO & Founder at SVK Home) check sources Suryaveer Kohli - Facebook ![]() Daughter- 2 • Kokila Kohli (Sole Proprietor at Koko’s KitChan) check sources Kokila Kohli - Facebook • Kohelika Kohli (Archtect, Interior Designer, and CEO & Creative Director at K2India) check sources K2India ![]() ![]() |
Parents | Father- Indar Prakash check sources Forbes Mother- Chand Sur (deceased) check sources Forbes ![]() |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Sunita Kohli
Sunita Kohli is an Indian interior designer, architectural restorer, and furniture manufacturer with no formal training in design. check sources K2India She has restored, styled, and designed various properties such as luxurious hotels, prestigious buildings, palaces, and forts in different parts of the world including Bhutan, Pakistan, Egypt, Sri Lanka, and India.
Sunita was born into a family that has its roots in Lahore; however, the family moved to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh after the Partition of India. check sources Forbes
Her father, Indar Prakash, belonged to a Rajput family, and her mother, Chand Sur, belonged to the minority group of Hindu Balochi from Quetta. check sources Forbes
Sunita Kohli grew up in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. check sources Royal Over-Seas League
As a child, Sunita would often accompany her father, Indar Prakash, at various sales and auctions. Soon, she grew her interest in designs after she was fascinated with the collections of Osler chandeliers and Writ and Butler lamps. check sources The Economic Times
In an interview, Sunita Kohli revealed that after her marriage in 1971 to one of India’s most successful equity investors, Ramesh Kohli, she started visiting ‘kabadi’ shops (scrap dealer’s shops) in Lucknow, Rajasthan, Dehra Dun, and Mussoorie with her husband, where antiquities such as the early 19th century lights and Edwardian furniture could be found. check sources Forbes Looking at those antiquities, Sunita decided to become an antiquarian. check sources Forbes
According to Sunita Kohli, she learned manufacturing skills from a master craftsman in Lucknow and decided to sell Davenport desks and Regency wine tables. Soon, she started receiving requests for redecoration works from clients. In an interview, Sunita Kohli talked about this and said,
When clients commissioned me to restore furniture, they also asked for advice about how to redecorate their homes. Interior design as a profession actually came to India only in the 1970s.” check sources Forbes
Sunita Kohli set the foundation of an interior design firm in New Delhi named ‘Sunita Kohli Interior Designs’ in 1971. check sources K2India
In 1972, she established ‘Sunita Kohli and Company,’ a contemporary-classic furniture manufacturing company. check sources K2India
As she was climbing the stairs of success, Sunita Kohli received the opportunity to help restore the works of many prominent architects including Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir Herbert Baker, and Sir Robert Tor Russell. check sources Forbes
Sunita Kohli has restored and decorated India’s prominent properties, designed by Lutyens, Baker, and Robert Tor Russell, including the Prime Minister’s Office (in 1985 and 1986), check sources One Global Forum Rashtrapati Bhawan (1982, 1985 to 1989, 2010, and 2012), check sources One Global Forum Nos. 3 and 5 Racecourse Road (1984 and 2004) check sources One Global Forum , Parliament House Colonnade, Hyderabad House (1988 to 1989) check sources One Global Forum in New Delhi, and the Bungalows of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum. check sources One Global Forum
In 1989, she designed the National Assembly Building in Thimpu, Bhutan. check sources One Global Forum
In 1990, Sunita gave shape to the British Council Building and the DLF Corporate Office (9th Floor) check sources One Global Forum on Parliament Street, New Delhi. check sources The Times of India
After receiving Padma Shri in 1992, Sunita became the only interior designer to be awarded the fourth highest civilian award in India. check sources Forbes
Kohli is also known for her work in the Parliament Building of Bhutan, check sources One Globe Forum King Jigme Singye Wangchuck’s international conference centre in the Buddhist style, and in many hotels in Bhutan. check sources Forbes
Sunita Kohli’s work in Egypt includes the design of many luxury hotel boats on the Nile for the Egyptian General Company For Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH) and the ‘Oberoi Group.’ check sources Forbes
Sunita restored, designed, and furnished the Naila Fort in Jaipur for the Oberoi Group. check sources Forbes
Sunita has written papers in different fields such as Design, Architecture, Historical Conservation, Literature, World Heritage Cultural Sites in India, Mughal Jewellery as a Statement of Empire, and on Social Entrepreneurship. check sources K2India
Sunita Kohli’s ‘Children’s series on Indian culture’ – illustrated by the grandchildren, Anadya, Zohravar and Aaryaman Bhati – starts with a book on Delhi’s architecture and others titled ‘Traditional lamps of India,’ ‘Awadhi Cuisine from the Jehangirabad Kitchens,’ ‘Tanjore Paintings,’ and the ‘World Heritage Cultural Sites in India.’ check sources K2India
Sunita wrote the chapter on Lutyens and New Delhi for ‘The Millennium Book on New Delhi’, published by Oxford University Press, titled ‘The Creation of a Planned City.’ check sources K2India
In association with the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts’ in Washington DC, Sunita Kohli founded the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts in India’ in 2005 check sources Forbes “to honour women artists of the past, promote the accomplishments of the women artists of present, and assure the place of women artists in the future.” check sources Forbes Sunita Kohli serves as part of the National Advisory Board of the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts’ in Washington DC. check sources Forbes
In 2010, Sunita Kohli and her daughter, Kohelika Kohli, co-founded a multi-disciplinary design and architectural firm, ‘K2India,’ in New Delhi. check sources K2India
Sunita Kohli with her daughter, Kohelika Kohli, attending an award function – GROHE Bath & Design Awards in association with AD India
The company was formed by merging different companies, namely, ‘Kohelika Kohli Architects’ (the Architecture and Project Management cell of the company, established in 2004), ‘Sunita Kohli Interior Designs Pvt. Ltd.’ (interior designer cell of the company, established in 1972), and ‘Sunita Kohli & Co.’ (the Furniture Manufacturing cell of the company, established in 1971). check sources K2India
‘K2India’ deals mainly with the designing of hotels and resorts, gyms, private residences, corporate offices, restaurants, luxury hotel boats, and aircraft; and the restoration of forts, heritage identities, palaces, and public buildings. The company has completed successful projects in Bhutan, Egypt, England, and Shri Lanka. check sources K2India
CJ Living – K2India’s one of the commercial projects
Private residence in Jor Bagh – K2India’s one of the residential projects
In 2014, her company K2India received the Architectural Digest 50 Award; check sources K2India moreover, the company has received many more awards such as the AD Award (2020), FCCI FLO (2019-2020), India’s Most Prominent Architect and Design Award (2019), Inkpot Achievers Award (2019), ID Honors Award (2019), AD Award (2108), The Fashion Awards (2017), AD50 Award (2017), the Festival of Architecture and Interior Designing Award (2016), Society Interiors Honors Award (2015), The ET Architecture & Design Summit(2014), AD50 Award (2014), Building Industry Leadership (2006), Wade ‘Role Model’ Interior Designer, and Jama Masjid United Forum: Terrorism National & International World Conference. check sources K2India
In 2014, she served as the Chairperson of The School of Planning and Architecture in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, making her the first woman to hold the post.
‘The Lucknow Cookbook,’ a 230-page book with 18 chapters check sources The Hindu , is a book containing recipes for almost 150 vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, which has the essence of Lucknowi cuisines and culture taken directly from the kitchens of their friends and family; Sunita Kohli and her mother, Chand Sur, co-authored the book and got it published on 5 December 2017. check sources The Times of India
Sunita Kohli with her mother, Chand Sur, holding ‘The Lucknow Cookbook’
In 2019, Sunita Kohli talked about the book in an interview and said,
The recipes in the book are distilled from this rich culinary heritage, the preparation of food is learnt by observation, it is a process of osmosis. With four generations in our family being reasonably good cooks, this book documents recipes we learnt from my mother and other close friends.” check sources The Hindu
In an interview, while talking about her book ‘The Lucknow Cookbook,’ Sunita Kohli shared that one of her favourite desserts was a homemade kulfi. check sources Hindustan Times
Sunita Kohli is a founder and trustee of the Satyagyan Foundation – an affiliate of “World Literacy of Canada,” in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; check sources K2India Satyagyan Foundation is a non-governmental organisation formed for the economic empowerment of women by providing vocational training and literacy.
Being a social activist, Sunita Kohli is associated with many non-governmental organisations – Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of ‘Save-a-Mother’ check sources K2India (an NGO with a motive to decrease maternal and infant mortality rates in India), and a contributor to ‘Women’s Cancer Intitiave’ of the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. check sources The Times of India
Sunita Kohli is one of the members of the Advisory Committee of Rashtrapati Bhawan. check sources K2India
She is a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Sushant School of Art and Architecture in Haryana, India, and a member of the General Council of the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi. check sources K2India
Sunita Kohli is associated with the Della Leaders Club (DLC). check sources Della Leaders Club
Kohli has also delivered lectures at many renowned universities including Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States, The University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and the Glasgow School of Art, United Kingdom. check sources K2India
Sunita Kohli’s house in Golf Links, New Delhi was built in 1954. check sources Houzz According to Sunita Kohli, the furniture at her house is contemporary in design, and most of them are designed by her daughter, Kohelika Kohli; check sources Houzz however, the house is styled by Sunita. check sources Houzz
Furniture at the house – designed by Kohelika Kohli
While talking about her house in an interview, Sunita Kohli said,
My home is biographical, full of memories of people and places. Designed to be functional first and to house all that is precious to me. I have always believed in the greatness of India‘s everyday art. Our home reflects this, and conveys many more narratives.” check sources Houzz
Sunita Kohli’s house – The Courtyard entrance to the living room surrounded by planters, copper, and brass collected from around the world
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References/Sources
- Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook
- Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook
- K2India
- K2India
- Forbes
- Royal Over-Seas League
- Forbes
- The Hindu
- School of Planning and Architecture
- Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook
- Suryaveer Kohli - Facebook
- Kokila Kohli - Facebook
- K2India
- The Economic Times
- One Global Forum
- The Times of India
- One Globe Forum
- Forbes
- K2India
- Hindustan Times
- Della Leaders Club
- Houzz