Sunita Kohli Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full name	Sunita Surya Kohli [1]Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook
Nickname	Guddi [2]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 [3]K2India 1992: Padma Shri by the Government of India for work in the field of "Architectural Restoration and Design" [4]K2India
Personal Life
Date of Birth	28 December 1946 (Saturday)
Age (as of 2022)	76 Years
Birthplace	Lakshmi Mansion (the Victoria Building), Lahore, Pakistan [5]Forbes
Zodiac sign	Capricorn
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India [6]Royal Over-Seas League
School	Roman Catholic School, Lucknow
College/University	• Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi [7]Forbes • Lucknow University [8]Forbes
Educational Qualification(s)	• Graduated in English Literature at Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi [9]Forbes • Pursued a Master of Arts degree in English at Lucknow University [10]Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook
Company	K2India [11]K2India
Food Habit	Non-vegetarian [12]The Hindu
Address	31st, Golf Link, Ground Floor, Frount Apartment, New Delhi [13]School of Planning and Architecture
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married [14]Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook
Marriage Date	21 November 1971 [15]Sunita Surya Kohli - Facebook
Family
Husband/Spouse	Ramesh Kohli [16]Forbes
Children	Son- 1 • Suryaveer Kohli (CEO & Founder at SVK Home) [17]Suryaveer Kohli - Facebook Daughter- 2 • Kokila Kohli (Sole Proprietor at Koko’s KitChan) [18]Kokila Kohli - Facebook • Kohelika Kohli (Archtect, Interior Designer, and CEO & Creative Director at K2India) [19]K2India
Parents	Father- Indar Prakash [20]Forbes Mother- Chand Sur (deceased) [21]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. ^[22]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. ^[23]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. ^[24]Forbes

• Sunita Kohli grew up in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. ^[25]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. ^[26]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. ^[27]Forbes Looking at those antiquities, Sunita decided to become an antiquarian. ^[28]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.” ^[29]Forbes

• Sunita Kohli set the foundation of an interior design firm in New Delhi named ‘Sunita Kohli Interior Designs’ in 1971. ^[30]K2India

• In 1972, she established ‘Sunita Kohli and Company,’ a contemporary-classic furniture manufacturing company. ^[31]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. ^[32]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), ^[33]One Global Forum Rashtrapati Bhawan (1982, 1985 to 1989, 2010, and 2012), ^[34]One Global Forum Nos. 3 and 5 Racecourse Road (1984 and 2004) ^[35]One Global Forum, Parliament House Colonnade, Hyderabad House (1988 to 1989) ^[36]One Global Forum in New Delhi, and the Bungalows of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum. ^[37]One Global Forum

• In 1989, she designed the National Assembly Building in Thimpu, Bhutan. ^[38]One Global Forum

• In 1990, Sunita gave shape to the British Council Building and the DLF Corporate Office (9^th Floor) ^[39]One Global Forum on Parliament Street, New Delhi. ^[40]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. ^[41]Forbes

• Kohli is also known for her work in the Parliament Building of Bhutan, ^[42]One Globe Forum King Jigme Singye Wangchuck’s international conference centre in the Buddhist style, and in many hotels in Bhutan. ^[43]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.’ ^[44]Forbes

• Sunita restored, designed, and furnished the Naila Fort in Jaipur for the Oberoi Group. ^[45]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. ^[46]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.’ ^[47]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.’ ^[48]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 ^[49]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.” ^[50]Forbes Sunita Kohli serves as part of the National Advisory Board of the ‘National Museum of Women in the Arts’ in Washington DC. ^[51]Forbes

• In 2010, Sunita Kohli and her daughter, Kohelika Kohli, co-founded a multi-disciplinary design and architectural firm, ‘K2India,’ in New Delhi. ^[52]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). ^[53]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. ^[54]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; ^[55]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. ^[56]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 ^[57]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. ^[58]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.” ^[59]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. ^[60]Hindustan Times

• Sunita Kohli is a founder and trustee of the Satyagyan Foundation – an affiliate of “World Literacy of Canada,” in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; ^[61]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’ ^[62]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. ^[63]The Times of India

• Sunita Kohli is one of the members of the Advisory Committee of Rashtrapati Bhawan. ^[64]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. ^[65]K2India

• Sunita Kohli is associated with the Della Leaders Club (DLC). ^[66]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. ^[67]K2India

• Sunita Kohli’s house in Golf Links, New Delhi was built in 1954. ^[68]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; ^[69]Houzz however, the house is styled by Sunita. ^[70]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.” ^[71]Houzz

  

  Sunita Kohli’s house – The Courtyard entrance to the living room surrounded by planters, copper, and brass collected from around the world