India, Feb. 23 -- Growing up in Dhanbad with a father working in the coal mines, when did you first recognise the artistic potential in the tools, labour, and working-class culture that surrounded you?

I didn't see it as 'art' initially; it was just my reality. My father was a blacksmith for Tata Steel Coal Limited, and the soot, iron, and heavy manual labour were the backdrop of my childhood. The realisation came later, during my time at BHU (Banaras Hindu University). I looked at the 'high art' being taught and realised there was a massive disconnect between those aesthetics and the life I knew. I saw that the calloused hands of my father and the blackened tools he used possessed a profound sculptural language. That was when I decided ...