If Atul seeks to reconstruct images from a forgotten biography, it’s a significant commentary on his conscience as an artist. And a signal for reviewing current value-systems. Atul’s watercolours have led the Mahatma out of the tumultuous pages of history into the gentle sepia-washed terrain of his canvas. Here, Gandhi is given a new lease of life with sensitive brush strokes. A rich burnt sienna reaffirms the strength and spirit of Gandhi beneath the frail ‘minimalist’ body. Luminous yellow-whites merge into deep ambers inviting a closer scrutiny of nuances. Shades, we must remember that make the fabric of humanity. Shades, that Gandhi urged, we embrace as one people.

Official mythology is invariably a lexicon of marmoreal nouns: as we walk through the galleries of honour and the halls of fame in which the nation-state installs its genealogical trophies, we search in vain for vital signs; all we find are marble words like heroism, duty, sacrifice, dedication and progress.