Srinagar, April 18 -- "Hanif Kureshi, better known on the streets as Daku, was one of the most influential figures in India's contemporary street art movement." Born in Palitana, his journey into art didn't begin in studios or galleries, but in the everyday world of hand-painted signs and roadside painters that shaped his early understanding of visual culture.

As a child, Hanif Kureshi spent time around local painters who made license plates and shop signs by hand. Their work was raw, practical, and often overlooked, but it left a lasting impression on him. He became fascinated by lettering-the way each painter had a slightly different style, the way words could feel alive even when they were meant to be purely functional. That early con...