Exactly 144 years ago, artist Jatindra Kumar Sen was born in Darbhanga district, Bihar. An academic degree from an art college was simply not in his destiny. Faced with the pressing need to secure a livelihood quickly, he wrapped up his studies there and ventured out in search of work. But what could he do? It was only natural for him to seek work in drawing—the one thing he excelled at. However, freelancing with sporadic illustrations here and there could only take him so far. Relief came through Parashuram, the pen name of the celebrated writer Rajshekhar Basu. At the time, Basu was a high-ranking official at Bengal Chemicals, where Jatindra eventually found employment, most likely through Basu’s courtesy.