They were members of the Durga Vahini, a Hindutva right-wing group, there to protest an exhibition of paintings, “The Naked and the Nude”. I was there to see the ; over the last two years, one of the small compensatory joys of living in the city had seen the DAG exhibitions, on landscapes, printmaking, modernism, shifting lessons in art history. Their shows – on Chittoprosad, on four centuries of prints – had become a visual memory for me, an alternate history of modern India squabbling with itself, fascinated by influences from Europe, intent on recovering and playing with its own traditions, rich in colour and line, endlessly curious.




















