Satyajit Ray (1921-1992) made the ordinary extraordinary, and in so doing, became a legend in his lifetime. Much has been written about his work as a filmmaker par excellence,  books and films having mapped his trajectory since 1955 when he made his first award-winning world-acclaimed film, Pather Panchali – until 1991, when he directed Agantuk which also won a national gold medal. Besides making feature films and documentaries, Ray has been a graphic designer, illustrator, short story writer, and music composer in his long and illustrious career. His films began with a stark vocabulary, almost like a charcoal line drawing, gradually evolving to his later rich tapestry of ideas, people and events, culminating in 1992, when he received the Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. Ray has crossed over but will live forever through his films and books, and memories of those whose lives he had touched. Featured here, is Tom Alter’s gentle sketch of a master he had worked with briefly in Shatranj ke Khiladi,  ‘The Chess Players’, the first and only feature film located outside the Bengali milieu.