Charlotte Von Schedvin was a blonde, blue-eyed young woman who hailed from Swedish nobility.
PK Mahanandia was a poor art student from eastern
India, seen as an "untouchable" in his country's caste system.
India, seen as an "untouchable" in his country's caste system.
He cycled from India to Sweden for his love
East meets West – Swedish
traveler Charlotte Von Schedvin and Indian art student PK Mahanandia
fell in love in India in late 1975. She was a descendant of Swedish
nobility; he a member of India's "untouchable" Dalit caste.
Along
the way he slept in Bedouin tents, youth hostels or under the stars by
the Caspian Sea. The young couple kept their romance burning through
letters.
Along
the way he slept in Bedouin tents, youth hostels or under the stars by
the Caspian Sea. The young couple kept their romance burning through
letters.
Along
the way he slept in Bedouin tents, youth hostels or under the stars by
the Caspian Sea. The young couple kept their romance burning through
letters.
Despite their different backgrounds and as if masterminded by fate, the young couple's love was instant and overwhelming.
They would spend one glorious month together before Von Schedvin returned to her home in Boras, Sweden.
Mahanandia
vowed to marry the woman he loved, at any cost. The talented painter
sold everything he owned to buy a pushbike, and with just $80 in his
pocket set off on his epic journey.
In those days "only a Maharaja could afford a flight to Sweden," explained Mahanandia.
Along
the way he slept in Bedouin tents, youth hostels or under the stars by
the Caspian Sea. The young couple kept their romance burning through
letters.
Charlotte, PK and their children, Emelie and Sid Von Schedvin
Now, after almost four decades of
marriage and two children later, the couple's story has also reportedly
sparked the interest of film makers around the world.
Written in the stars?
Mahanandia was just nine years old when an emotional encounter sowed the seeds for match he'd make 17 years later.
Born into the Dalit caste, the young boy was shunned by his fellow villagers -- even forced to sit outside the schoolroom.
"I was below the dogs and cows," he told the journalist
"The
moment I went near the temple, [people] started throwing stones. Those
things, I never forget." He wells up recalling those long painful years.
One
day he was allowed to sit at the back of the classroom -- but not to
touch anyone, as they'd be "polluted." A British school inspector and
his wife were coming to visit.
After
a royal welcome, the inspector gave his garland of flowers to a girl at
the front. His wife walked all the way to the back and gave hers to
Mahanandia.
"She could see I was an outcast," he remembers. "She touched my head and said: 'Your lovely curly hair!'"
"I was happy, but at the same time I was crying. It was like a little light for me in the dark cave."
Mahanandia took the garland proudly home to his mother and said: "Mum, I'm in love with the school inspector's wife."
Her response would impact the rest of his life.
Presenting her son with a palm leaf horoscope, she told him he'd marry "a white woman, from a faraway land".
She would also be a Taurus, involved in music and own a jungle, according to the prophecy.
"We're
not going to arrange any marriage for you," Mahanandia recalls his
mother saying -- an unusual decision at the time, in a country where
many unions were pre-arranged by parents.
A chance encounter
Fast-forward
to 1975 and Mahanandia was 26, a broke art student in Delhi, often
forced to sleep in bus stations or telephone booths.
Yet
his talent furnished opportunities and Mahanandia gradually made a name
for himself painting the portraits of politicians and celebrities --
including Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.
He was even granted permission to paint portraits in Delhi's central square, Connaught Place.
It
was there that he met Von Schedvin, a 20-year-old traveler with "a
longing for India." She had driven with friends from Sweden to India; 22
days in a minibus along the famous "Hippie Trail," a cultural highway
that followed much of the Silk Road.
As fate had turned Mahanandia to look West for his future, it had also pushed Von Schedvin to look East.
"I
had been longing to go to India since I was about 10 years old,
watching films, writing stories, reading about India. For me it was
fulfilling my dream," said Von Schedvin.
As
a young woman, she was gripped by Indian culture -- films like
"Siddhartha," the music of Ravi Shankar and George Harrison. "I was
fascinated by East meeting West," she remembers.
Luckily for both, Mahanandia's portrait of Von Schedvin in the square that day wasn't his best.
"It was a little bit shaky!" she said. "We said we'd come back the next day."
When she returned, a realization dawned on Mahanandia. Could Von Schedvin be the western woman in his horoscope?
For
the first time, that night Mahanandia says he prayed to the elephant
god Ganesh. He wanted Von Schedvin to come back so he could ask if she
was a Taurus.
"When I saw her at the traffic lights, I got nervous in the stomach. I put on my easel, 'artist is sick'," he said.
Then came the questions.
She was a Taurus.
She played the piano.
She
owned forests -- indeed, Von Schedvin's ancestors had been given a
portion of Swedish woodland after helping the King in the 1700s.
"I became shaky," said Mahanandia. "I said: 'It's decided in the heavens, we are destined to meet each other.' She was shocked!"
Follow your heart 100%
Trusting
her instinct, Von Schedvin followed Mahanandia to meet his father in
Odisha, where the couple received tribal blessings.
"I didn't think, I just followed my heart 100%. There was no logic," she said.
"When
I was with her, I felt taller than the sky," said Mahanandia. "I was no
longer an outcast. It changed my attitude to myself inside."
After
just one month together, Von Schedvin returned to Sweden. Mahanandia,
who had a year left of art school, remained in India.
But
the time apart only strengthened Mahanandia's resolve to see his love
again, and in January 1977 he wrote to Von Schedvin telling her of his
plan to cycle to Sweden and make her his wife.
Hippie Trail
Popular
from the mid-1960s to late-1970s, the "Hippie Trail" stretched from
India through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and former Yugoslavia
to Europe. At that time travelers didn't need a visa, and the region was
safe and stable. Colorful tour buses departed regularly from London to
Goa.
Setting off on two wheels,
Mahanandia left Delhi with just $80. But he arrived in Sweden with more
than $800 -- painting portraits for food and money along the way.
Though
some days he cycled up to 70km, the artist admits he got lifts wherever
possible -- even being gifted a train ticket from Istanbul to Vienna.
"Sometimes
you'd get two or three hitchhiking offers and you'd have to choose!"
said Mahanandia. "I bicycled for love, but I never loved biking."
He arrived in Boras on 28 May 1977, over four months after his departure.
Though
some friends thought the "holiday romance" wouldn't last, the couple
have been together in Sweden for 40 years. They have two children, Sid
and Emelie.
Charlotte, PK and their children, Emelie and Sid Von Schedvin
Alongside Von Schedvin's music-teaching
career and Mahanandia's art, the pair have dedicated themselves to
promoting indigenous arts and offering cultural scholarships to Indian
Dalits.
Two years ago Mahanandia
was awarded an honorary doctorate from his state university, and in
2005 nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
When floods prevented the artist from revisiting his village in 1997, the local government arranged a helicopter for him.
"I landed on my old school's football field," he said, smiling.
"Love
has given me the power to forgive the people throwing stones at me.
They need education. I'm glad that our story is giving people hope."
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