We recently connected with Varun Patel and have shared our conversation below.

Varun, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I believe that a part of me always wanted to pursue a creative and artistic path from a young age. However, I didn’t know what it would look like, or when or how it would happen. My journey has as much to do with running away from being an artist as it does embracing the calling to be one. My experience has been that the universe will conspire to bring you towards your calling whether you like it or not.

As a child I always had a passion for the arts, and it was a hobby that I cultivated for myself. However, as a child of immigrant parents from India, it would come as no surprise to anyone from similar South Asian backgrounds that my parents saw my interest in arts as more of a frivolity than a viable career option. While the arts were never discouraged for me (as long as I focused on academics and a “serious” career), it was also never encouraged nor supported. For this reason, art and creativity remained nothing more than a hobby that received less and less of my time and energy over the years as I grew through college, graduate studies, and my career. During my undergraduate years I studied architecture which was my attempt at preserving some connection to the creative path. However, my first job was as a project manager in a design firm, not a designer, and that was the start of a series of small steps moving further and further away from creativity. Over the course of a decade, I eventually went to graduate school to pursue my MBA, began a new career in management consulting focusing on finance operations and technology, moved to the Bay Area, and attempted to build a healthcare startup. It felt like a far cry from my creative side, and a part of me felt that maybe that part of my life was behind me.

It wasn’t until 2020, coincidentally when the world began to go into lockdown, that I had a reality check. I was doing well in my career, but felt unfulfilled. The startup that I was working on was barely getting off the ground and I was not able to find good partners to work with. One afternoon, while venting my frustrations with my wife, she said to me, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why don’t you do something you are good at.” She was trying to tell me to do something with my artistic ability, which she knew was something I always got excited about, but never committed any time towards. I began hearing similar comments from my siblings, who appeared to show more interest in the possibility of me doing something with my artistic ability than any of my other “billion-dollar” start-up ideas. “Why don’t you create an Etsy store?” “Share your art on Instagram.” “People will like it.” These were the types of comments that I received. I felt that the universe was trying to nudge me in this direction. Since the world was locking down, and my start-up was failing to start, I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by sharing some old projects that I had done over the years on social media. And soon enough my art career was born.

I received an overwhelming, and unexpected, amount of positive feedback on the works that I had shared. I had no intention of selling any work, thinking it would be a few years until I establish myself as an artist and make sales. However, I was surprised to find my inbox flooded with messages requesting art prints for sale. This is how my art studio/brand Vichaar & Prem was created. It was far from a deliberate plan I put in motion, it honestly felt like the universe drawing me towards this path it laid out for me. I began to trust that me “losing my way” over the years was actually a series of pivots that brought me towards the path that I am on now. All the non-artistic/creative experience that I have had over the years helped me grow as a person, refine my interests, and cultivate my unique perspective on the world. So when I began Vichaar & Prem, I was able to be purposeful on what exactly I want to do with my art. I have been able to leverage my connection to my culture, take inspiration from my experiences, and knowledge of business to create a brand that I wake up excited every morning to work on.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am the creative director of Vichaar & Prem — an art studio and brand that I founded with my wife, Radhika. We are both self-proclaimed “culture nerds” because we love learning about the history, philosophy, customs, and meaning behind our Indian culture, as well as finding connections with other cultures from around the world. Together, we started Vichaar & Prem as a way to showcase our rich culture in a way that felt more relatable and fit a modern aesthetic. Our studio quickly became an intersection of many of our interests: art, design, education, culture, social impact, and entrepreneurship.

We started off creating artwork that was geared towards children. Like many children of immigrant parents from India, we struggled to relate and connect with the culture. It didn’t always make sense to us and often left us feeling out of place. We asked questions, and didn’t always get good answers or answers that felt relevant to our lives. For both of us, this led to periods where we shied away from embracing our culture. But as adults, we know how important a strong cultural foundation is while growing up. We wanted to help avoid that struggle for the children growing up today, so we created artwork that showcase positive messages of being brave, confident, and caring, while drawing connections to the stories and imagery from Indian culture.

From that humble beginning we have grown and gone beyond children’s art prints to explore other topics and mediums. We work on literary projects that range from short stories to retellings of ancient epics that provide a fresh and modern perspective on the tales of the past. Some of our best selling products are our learning products which include high contrast visual stimulation cards for babies and a deck of flashcards answering fifty commonly asked questions about Hinduism. One of the projects that we are most proud of is an illustrated series we did on the Bhagavad Gita. Throughout the series, we convey some of the highly philosophical ideas from the Sanskrit scripture through simple illustrations and explanations that are relatable to the person living today. As a studio we are constantly trying to push the boundaries on how people can experience and interact with Indian culture. This includes one of our more noteworthy achievements — creating the digital murals that were displayed on One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) to celebrate Diwali in New York City.

While we are still doing art prints, illustrations, and storytelling we are also beginning to venture into new areas for ourselves. We are looking into publishing books, graphic novels, and even creating animations. As we grow our brand and expand the type of work our studio does, we try to maintain our focus on highlighting different ways ancient stories and scriptures are still relevant and applicable to the person living today. Our goal is to make people feel as if they can have their own connection to the ancient culture, and not feel that it was only for generations of the past.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Vichaar & Prem has 2 primary goals: (1) spread good thoughts and love, and (2) help people connect to Indian culture and make it their own.

One of our customers once shared with us that “there is a lot that Indian culture has to offer us, but it has a branding problem. It just feels old.” This sentiment captures one of the driving factors that motivates us to create through Vichaar & Prem. For both Radhika and I, Indian culture has been a cornerstone in our upbringing and a source of values that have shaped us. However, we also recognize that we are not alone in feeling that it sometimes feels hard to connect to in modern times.

The work we produce at Vichaar & Prem is a fresh and modern take on the stories and imagery from a rich, four-thousand year old culture. In all our work, we try to pay tribute to the culture, while making it more relevant and accessible to people growing up today. We like to think that we are creating the things that we wish we had growing up, or what would have made it easier for us to connect to Indian culture.

While rooted in Indian culture, our brand name also signifies our commitment to create art with two key ingredients: (1) good thoughts (“vichaar”) and (2) love (“prem”). As we expand our brand and business beyond art prints and learning products, we will always hold ourselves to create with the intent to inspire positive thoughts and love among our audience.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As a creative, it is often the case that you are your own worst critic. It doesn’t stop there. You are also your own worst enemy, and the biggest obstacle that you have to overcome. The first person getting in your way from creating and sharing your work is always yourself. Fear plays a big role in this — fear of failing, fear of what others may say or think, fear of not getting “likes” on social media. This fear can be crippling to the point it has you questioning your own ability and whether you should create if at all. Since I have started Vichaar & Prem, I have learned to have a different relationship with fear — one that doesn’t hold me back, but rather compels me to move forward. I learned to stop fearing what the world may say of what you create, but rather fear what the world may miss out on if you don’t create.

Today, I take on projects that are meaningful to me and I gain fulfillment from being able to share them with those that connect with them. I have never regretted working on a project, even if it didn’t bear the results that I expected. However, I have regretted not taking on or sharing a project because I was scared of what others may say. Starting my creative journey with Vichaar & Prem is a testament to that. For years I had avoided creating and sharing my art out of fear of what certain people may think, only to learn that I didn’t have the slightest clue that there was an even larger population out there that was waiting for someone like me to create. Even with social media, it’s been a tough lesson to learn that “likes” or “shares” don’t define the success of my art. In fact, some of my posts that performed poorly are actually the ones that sell the best. Don’t let fear of the results or response hold you back from creating. The reality is that when you don’t create, everyone misses out, including yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vichaarandprem.com
• Instagram: @vichaar.and.prem
• Facebook: vichaar.and.prem