Pic by Rupinder Sharma

The turning point in my life came during the first five years after I graduated from the Government College of Art and Craft in Calcutta. It was a phase that determined who I became. I joined an advertising agency called Clarion in Delhi in 1982 as an illustrator. But I couldn’t bear the thought of working there for long because I realised there were two aspects to it — success is ascribed to others and failure always comes to haunt you. Besides, I had always been painting and was mainly into water colours. So I left the job. However, it so happened that I took up an advertising job again — this time with Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA). Barely seven months into it, I quit.

I started painting on my own after that. But life was tough. I’d just got married and rented a room in the city for which I paid Rs 500. I was literally starving. Then one day my former colleagues from HTA searched me out and offered me some illustration assignments. Thus began my freelancing career. I soon became so popular that I was doing illustrations for 12 to 13 other agencies at a time. I had found my foothold and I was earning money but somehow I was still not content. I could not paint till 1987 because I had no time left after my freelancing work. So finally I struck out on my own and I have been painting — and doing well — ever since.

(As told to Arundhati Basu)