The Remarkable Story Of A Man Who Cycled From India To Sweden To Meet His True Love

Then One Night…

On the evening of December 17, 1975, there was a gorgeous woman who had big blue eyes and blonde hair making her way towards Mahanandia. She went up to him while he was still drawing other portraits. She stood behind him and was in awe of how quickly Mahanandia could sketch an impressive portrait of people in under 10 minutes.

As Mahanandia spoke to her, he was mesmerized by her eyes. “Her eyes were so blue and big and round, I felt as if she was not looking at me, she was looking at me, like an X-ray machine! I thought I must do justice to her beauty,” he revealed in an interview. Mahanandia was completely enchanted by her gorgeous blue eyes and did not want to disappoint her.

Totally Mesmerized

Mahanandia felt speechless when he was in front of this young woman. He became so nervous that his hand started to shake while he was sketching her. He requested this young woman to come back the following day as he had made a mess of her portrait that day. This had never happened before and it was clear that Mahanandia was enchanted.

The mystery woman came back the next day and then Mahanandia drew 3 other portraits of the woman, which all ended up badly. Although he asked him 10 rupees everytime, she would give him 20. Mahanandia told her that he could not accept such a price from a beautiful woman like her. He joked that only bald men needed to pay extra when it comes to him.

The Hippie Trail

This gorgeous woman that Mahanandia could not draw properly was Charlotte Von Schedvin. She traveled all the way from the country, Sweden to Delhi joining the hippie trail. She was with 4 of her friends and a 1-year-old baby who all came traveling in a Volkswagen bus taking 22 days back-packing through the European countries, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

As they reached Delhi, the group parked in Connaught Place. This was the location where Mahanandia was doing his painting. Von Schedvin saw him working and made her way towards him immediately. She revealed to interviewers that his “curly hair, smiling face, and white teeth” were so appealing and that it drew her to him. She felt he was a good person right from the start.