LIKHAWAT

My name is Shipra Rohatgi  and I’m the artist and calligrapher behind Likhawat Designs. I am a 4th generation calligrapher from India, right from my ancestors, now me- we have been dedicated to the subject and it’s revival. My great-grand father was an accountant at The Last Mughal Emperor’s court whilst my grand father supplied art in various mediums to the East India Company and local traders and  my father claimed commercial success with clients like Smt Sonia Gandhi , Shri Habib Rehman, Amitabh Bachchan & more in the 1980s. I learnt under my father’s guidance as he passed on the work to me many a times because  he was busy with his bank job, he is still a multitasker! Passion for calligraphy prompted me to start Likhawat in 1999 as a customised calligraphy outfit and design based products business. I named it “Likhawat Designs” because of my love for beautifully written word with illustrations and design touches; Also because Likhawat is a perfect Hindi word which means Hand-writing! As Likhawat  matured, I found immense joy in teaching and learning various languages and performing calligraphy in various  manuscripts — like writing poems in Indian regional languages  in calligraphy with water color washes , touches & flowers.

Likhawat has given me the opportunity to personalize invitations  for Bollywood weddings & other special occasions. I have also been written about in many magazines as well as newpapers and I teach calligraphy in workshops, Online & offline  across the globe. I am proud to have done calligraphy on stone, metal, canvas, walls, sarees (any fabric), ceramics, wood, cars etc. My passion for teaching enabled me to publish my own practice workbooks, which guides the candidate step by step in such detail along with illustrations that one can attempt self-learning.

I live in New Delhi, India with my Father and both my children are artistically inclined performing elegant lettering, painting & drawing with a flair, so, 5^th generation in the making, hopefully! My children are students, but they do help me with the assignments at times, like I used to aid my father, in his times of need. Now life has come full circle, three generations all over again, working together towards Calligraphy!!  I have dedicated this life to Calligraphy which in turn has blessed me with joy & peace, ceaselessly.

My favorite things in life are calligraphy, procreate, painting with watercolours & acrylics, writing poetry, reading, cycling  and running. India is beautiful and I keep exploring new destinations!

Owner