In 1988 when Kundu set foot on Delhi, he carried only his dream, some water colours, paintbrushes, canvases and an easel. Today, 14 years later, Kundu has not only achieved that ambition, but is also at the cutting edge of stardom.

His works have been auctioned by Sotheby's, they hang on the walls of the Governor's residence in West Bengal, the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, the Hotels Oberoi, Taj Mahal, Maurya Sheraton and ITC Calcutta; they have found places of honour in the Embassies of Germany, France, Singapore and Yugoslavia besides decorating homes of numerous private collectors and the Delhi College of Art.

Kundu’s latest body of work attempts to capture the beauty and essence of Rabindranath Tagore’s Geetanjali on canvas. " The paintings try to visually project the imagination of the Nobel laureate," says Kundu.

Done in oil and acrylic, this series of 60 paintings is the result of five years of extensive research and creative urges of the artist. " I read Geetanjali over and over again to comprehend the underlying emotion behind each poem. I then visualized them as paintings."

Says the artist, " To a layman, in Geetanjali the poet conveys his love for his beloved, but for the initiated the book carries a far deeper meaning. It conveys the love of a human being for the almighty, which can be felt only by reading it repeatedly and comprehending it," says Kundu and adds, " I have tried to capture the divine feeling of each poem through this series. In a way this is my humble offering to Gurudevji."

Bengali literature and locales have always fascinated Kundu. One of his paintings depicts drummers beating drums against the green backdrop of the Darjeeling foothills during Durga Puja.

He has come a long way from his humble beginnings in Ranaghat, West Bengal. A first generation artist in the family, he showed a remarkable predilection for art at a very young age. His textbooks were full of sketches that he would work upon during classroom lectures, entering into a world that took him beyond the basic primers. While he often forgot to pack in the pen in his bag, he never ever forgot to include watercolours and brushes.

His paints and brushes have been his undying companion, even during outings with the family. With the creative eye of the artist, he captured on canvas all images that struck his imagination.

Following the death of his father, Kundu's older brother enrolled him at the Naihiti College to pursue a career in zoology. Encouraged by his Zoology Professor, who realised his talent after he saw his lab file illustrations, Kundu joined the Calcutta College of Art to pursue a degree in his favourite subject. Family tension was palpable when the swap was discovered and not without reason, opportunities for artists a decade ago were slim to say the least.

Though struggle became a part of Kundu's early art life, he was determined not to fail. As a start, he relocated to Delhi and entered into a paying guest accommodation. To ensure that he did not have to starve, beg or borrow, he offered art tuitions.

"Kolkata has good art connoisseurs, but low purchasing power" feels Kundu. "Besides, Delhi offers the prospect of seeing paintings of many great artists, which is not possible in Kolkata".

His first solo exhibition of watercolours at the Delhi's Triveni Art Gallery in 1988 took the art circles by surprise, straight away securing for him the reputation of one of the better upcoming artists of the country. This early success pushed him into his next solo exhibition and the next and so forth. And there has been no looking back since then.

Encouraged by his success, Kundu decided to experiment with other mediums. Oil or acrylic and murals that offer a much wider canvas to paint on, besides use of bolder colours that gave depth to his art.

In his own words though, watercolours are far more difficult a medium to work with than oils, because they demand that the painting be finished in one sitting. Unlike oil paintings, it is exceedingly difficult to make changes in watercolours. Besides, watercolour art is outstandingly beautiful as it highlights the colour of the paper which the oil or acrylic completely obscures.

Kundu’s choice of colours is both bright and aggressive, lending a stunning quality to his works that adds to their retention value. His personal favourite is blue for its unique softness and affability with other colours.

With experience, Kundu’s art has become more defined, more profound and more spontaneous. From real-life, the artist is now teetering into the world of abstract, which has lent a somewhat surreal hue to his works and has heightened their visual impact.

Kundu’s reach beyond the canvas has extended to mural making. Known as one of the leading muralists in the country, works of this multi faceted artist adorn several important buildings that include the Press Trust of India building, the Dak Bhawan on Parliament Street and St. Stephen's Hospital in Delhi and the ABC Academy in Varanasi. His biggest mural is a 30ft by 40 ft eye-catching composition at the entrance of the Benarasi Das Eye Hospital in Delhi.

"I love doing murals, even though they are very time consuming as they provide me with an alternate medium", says Kundu. Although he likes them all, his favourite is the 40 ft by 23 ft Dak Bhawan wall with its depiction of the evolution of postal services. From the homing pigeon, the foremost postman, the mural trails the ubiquitous dakia in his khaki uniform, the airmail logo, the postal seal, the red and the green letterboxes as also the satellite dish used in modern communication. Embedded with glass and tiles, the mural uses his preferred turquoise and prussian blue, with dashes of the postal red and a touch of khaki and green.

Making murals is a laborious process. It has to be created first as a drawing on the floor, then decorated with small pieces of coloured tiles. A cardboard sheet is affixed on the front of each mural and bit-by-bit the mural is mounted on the wall. Once mounted, the paper is slowly peeled off. Each mural takes nearly four to five months to complete. But taking on challenges is what Kundu thrives on. "When I draw a mural, it becomes a public property, while a painting is only for private viewing", says he.

The ultimate satisfaction for any artist, according to Kundu, is when he is able to get to the very roots of his art. "I am maturing with each day and am now experimenting with minimum use of colours."

That his art has come of age is apparent in his bold treatment of the subject. Besides, his works clearly portray a kind of a personal crusade to depict nature in its true form.

He came to Delhi with a bagful of dreams. Having carved a niche in the Indian world of art, one would have expected Kundu to sit back and bask in the warmth of his success. But no, true to his restless nature, Kundu is set to take the plunge into the global art arena. Recognition for his works outside India is his next goal. And with this current exhibition of art based on Tagore’s Geetanjali, that recognition may not remain elusive any more.