I also attended art classes in the evening,' reminisces Hussain. Art was his passion since his school days and he painted along with his career as a journalist.

In 1953, Ajmal was the editor of the Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan, having spent three months with Time/Life magazine in New York. He was also the editor of the Sunday magazine of Dawn. At the same time, he formed the Fine Arts Society and was a member of the Arts Council of Pakistan. Thus he had two parallel streams flowing in his life: one being his profession and the other his passion. 'I don't know how I managed to combine the two,' said Ajmal.

His father, Altaf Hussain, was an amateur watercolour painter and he used his father's paints and brushes. The latter encouraged him in his painting. In 1951 he had classes for a year in New York but apart from that he leaznt on his own. He had been expo{ed to Paris galleries in his visit in 1950 and was fascinated by the French Impressionists like Cezanne, Renoir and Dmgas. While in New York he was a regular gallery visitor too. He took up art in a big way in 1952, doing three political cartoons a week for Dawn and painting.

'I met Zainul Abedin in 1942 in Calcutta when he was a teacher at the Art School. I came across him with Jasimuddin and Abbasuddin. I was the youngest of the group. Zainul Abedin was in Karachi when I came there in 1947. Apart from Zainul, I also came across SM Sultan in those early days. Sultan had a big beard and wore saffron coloured clothes. The early contemporary artists included Zubaida Agha and Parvez Ahmed. We had a small art movement which led to the Arts Council of Paki{tan,' reminisces Ajmal.

Today he is a full time artist, living in Paris since the early 70s when he fell out with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, while working with Dawn. His work often depends on his moods. Sometimes the desire to paint hits him like a wave and he works non-stop for days in crayon or oil or acrylic. If he is working in pastel he carries on the series with that. He might work on a particular medium for a whole year. After a barren period he could be inspired again. He listens to western classical music, sometimes, while working and sometimes not. Sometimes he works till 4am.'I do not use the watercolour as Zainul Abedin and the Bengal School has done,' Ajmal siys. He always carries his sketchpad with him and he travels frequently, leaving his 30-year home in Paris and going to places in Europe and USA.

His first solo exhibition was in 1952 in Germany and it contained Impressionist paintings. The same year he had one in Geneva, Paris and Madrid. He got good reviews for his work. His next exhibition was in New York the same year. This same exhibition went to Washington which was well-covered by the press. 'My objective was not to be identified as an ethnic artist. I wanted to present art from our part of the world on a universal level. I had to struggle hard so that my images were not a curiosity,' maintains Ajmal.

Today, Ajmal is the winner of three coveted European prizes and has settled in Paris with his wife and two children, visiting Bangladesh and Pakistan from time to time.