muralist at school. He would prepare the surface of his jute canvas by creating a white sticky solution of white clay paste, fevicol (gum adhesive), water and ground bricks. The gum adhesive would act as the binder and bring in the colour. The prepared canvas had a taught smooth surface that was dull white in colour. The process is time-consuming as the jute strings absorb the solution easily but the pores between them take time to fill. It takes 15 layers of application before the stretched jute can be used as a canvas. Raiba, is distinct in his use of jute, he changes the surface of the material to resemble a canvas and does not use it in its natural form. While painting there is a deep absorption of the paint into the surface, leaving a rough texture on the surface, altering the shades of the paint. Even after years of having been painted these canvases do not develop cracks or have any fungal damage in comparison to the common canvas. The placement of subjects within his paintings borrow from the murals, narrating multiple stories, histories through intricate images that often go unnoticed but remain essential. Having a deep interest in Islamic literature and Urdu Poetry, Raiba was a scholar at heart. His works were not merely beautiful landscapes that emerged from live drawings. They were imaginary, based on a studied research of History. Though Raiba often travelled to places he would then treat as subjects for his canvas. Right after Kashmir, Raiba travelled to the temples of South India, disguising himself as a Kashmiri Pandit as entry into temples for Muslims was prohibited. Having never had the means to travel outside India, he constantly travelled the sub-continent in search of a subject with Goa being the most recent. A large oveure of his work is based on recreated scenes of old Bombay and the erstwhile Portuguese colonies that neighboured the city such as Bassein (Vasai). Raiba along with just a few other modernists was a native of Bombay. His family were from the Konkan – coastal Maharashtra, part of which was once ruled by the Portuguese. His community – the Konkani Muslims were ancient seafarers who held a distinct but integrated identity along with the Jews and Christians in a predominantly Hindu Konkan. Raiba always celebrated the fact that his surname had a Hindu origin and his mother was