MOVING ON — THE ‘GARAGE’ DAYS
When he moved on from that loss, things started to look very different for him. “I met Laxma Goud and artist Davraj. We started our small studio in a garage in Himayathnagar. We would work together and it became a cultural hub of sorts for us. Every artist from other cities, who were visiting Hyderabad, would hangout there. We would have chai, bhajjis and sometimes just rum. Rum was quite cheap back then,” he says.
The trio would go on to be part of several shows and make a name for themselves. “We did a lot of shows and slowly put Hyderabad on the art scene. My works also started selling for a good amount; a painting of mine would sell for `300 and so I managed to make ends meet,” he says.
“It was a slow and steady process. I did lose patience and there were times when things were difficult, but I survived. Sometimes when I look back and think what would have happened if I hadn’t left my job and moved on to Delhi — I would have been just another person with a government job. Things just happened one after the other — there was no rush — this was how I arrived,” he adds.
I look back and think what would have happened if I hadn’t left my job and moved to Delhi — I’d have been just another govt. employee