My father’s interest in ancient Indian scriptures – mythology, epics, legends and philosophy, began at a very early age. At home, his mother encouraged him and his brother, Kamal Kumar Mazumdar, to read and explore their native culture, its texts and literature. He grew up to be a visual artist, his brother to be a writer. My father’s initial training in art was at the Society of Oriental Art founded by Abanindranath Tagore, with whom he came into close contact. Here he was encouraged to look eastwards for inspiration and influence. He was a founder member of the Calcutta Group in the early 40s.

The group held urban sensibilities and absorbed international ideas and influences, all along being rooted to its culture. His experiences of living, working and studying in France and England, and a close interaction with thinkers and artists like Brancusi, Braque and Jean Genet, contributed to deepening his fascination and understanding of the sacred underpinnings of traditional art, regardless of the religion it grew out of – Christianity, Islam or Hinduism. He was deeply interested in symbolism, ritualism and the element of sacred in art practice. Along with his contemporaries in Bengal, he was involved in developing ‘Indian modernism’, and for him it was intrinsically connected to these concepts.