He did his M.A. in Malayalam Literature at Kerala University before going to Santiniketan to study art. Between 1961-1964 he worked on a research project, The Mural Paintings of Kerala. The following year he joined Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi as a lecturer in Art Education. Since his first exhibition in 1966, he has had several one-man shows and retrospectives in both Delhi (1978) and Bombay (1983). He has participated in several important exhibitions including "Pictrorial Space" Lalit Kala Academi, New Delhi (1977) "Contemporary Indian Art", Royal Academy of Arts, London (1982), "India: myth and reality", Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1982) and Modern Indian Paintings" , Hirschhom Museum, Washington D.C. (1982). His work has been presented at the Biennales of Tokyo, Menton, Sao Paulo, and Havana. He has written and illustrated about 50 children's picture books for which he received the Noma Concours awards of 1978 and 1980. He has also designed stamps for the Department of Post and Telegraph, Government of India. In 1965 he was invited by the Kumar Gallery, New Delhi and was regularly exhibited by them. His first one-man show was held in 1966. A retrospective of his works was held by the Kumar Gallery in 1978 and the same was exhibited by them at Bombay in collaboration with Gallery Art Heritage. Most of his major works executed during the period of 1966 to 1990, were acquired by the Kumar Gallery.