"I consider myself a café artist and have spent complete days lost in weaving stories in a café," reads Nitin Bal Chauhan's blog. Surfacing around pain, suffering and existential quests lies the inspiration for all his creative expressions. Be it clothes or films.

Far removed from the ubiquitous ones Nitin's sensibilities scream different.

Like 'Mourning', a collection for the Lakme Fashion Week 2006, in which he chose to capture the romanticism of the Kargil soldiers through regimented cuts. Or more recently his attempt to shed light on the prisoners held at the American detention camp in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay through his collection 'Prison Garb' at the Lakme Fashion Week 2007.

Monsoon and misery

"I can never forget the faces of the people who cry," he continues, "the finality of death inspires me as much as it aches." The death of two of his friends got him to converse with God. Nitin feels that his grief cannot even be compared to what his friends' families must be coping with everyday. This sensitivity evolved into his present style of 'controlled outburst.'

One look at the intense colours, harsh lines and disciplined cuts in his clothes reveal nuances of aggression, angst, everything sad, yet very much in control. "Nitin Bal Chauhan as a brand is sophisticated and intense, so I never want my clothes to be superlative," he confirms.

Witnessing death in close quarters has left an indelible mark on Nitin's sensitivities. It was during a show in Palampur when one of the staff members fell off the third floor. The injured person died in his arms while he was being taken to the hospital. "The smell of death still lingers," he divulges.