A teacher by profession, Sunil Yawalikar has been inspired by his students. His close ties to his rural background find overt manifestation in his paintings which uphold how lasting an effect our childhood has on us. The inspiration behind exploring the fleeting pleasures of a young age, lies in humanity’s tendency to suppress these finer pleasures of life and seek more physical luxuries. The repression of the happy memories of childhood under the burdens of adulthood is a leitmotif in his works.