"This is a country of numerous rivers. If I do just one painting of each, I will have at least a hundred paintings in my hand. I find water colour cheaper and easier to handle. When I paint the rivers, I have water easily at hand," says Alakesh. Sometimes he makes sketches before he gets on to the paper but often he paints directly, without any premeditation. He usually finishes his water colours in a day.

The artist who influences him most is Mohammed Kibria, although Kibria works on abstract and does graphics. Apart from Kibria, Rafiqun Nabi and Monirul Islam guided Alakesh when he was a student. Quamrul Hassan and Shafiuddin Ahmed have also had their influence on him. Recently he has been working on ethnic subjects, but unfortunately he has not been able to include those works in his exhibition.

As he often works outdoors, the works of Van Gogh, Cezanne and Gauguin too have inspired him. "In my 40 years of painting I've painted what fascinated me and so I had no difficulty in going about my work," Alakesh says, "I concentrate on my work -- whether it be water-colour or pencil sketch or oil," Water-colour remains his forte, which he does with speed, dexterity and versatility. The vistas and possibilities of vast strokes make subjects like the Buriganga and Brahmaputra dear to him. Even though he does not have figures in his paintings, they carry an intimate feeling and a personal touch.

In Khagrachari boats, suggestion of people, with cliffs and trees in the distance and the water in front make up the serene imagery. It is in greys, blues, beige, and white. In Buffalo herd, the artist has brought in buffaloes moving through fields with vast washes of purple as the landscape at the back, and brown crops in the front.

Sunderbans features bushes, trees and roots of mangrove trees all amalgamated in a delightful profusion of light strokes of brown, blue, purple and red. The area of the water and sky are left untouched.

Alakesh loves to bring in the lanes of old Dhaka too, specially with the ambiance of the afternoon, with the rickshaws, passers-by, old sagging electrical wiring and billboards. In Bara Katara (water colour) he has brought in buildings and houses with a series of black and beige strokes. Old Dhaka-2 features a lane with overhead lights of shops and electrical riggings. Alakesh loves the jostling crowds, transports and draft animals just as he enjoys the banks of rivers, which he expresses in broad brush sweeps.

Alakesh Ghosh has taken part in joint exhibits in Japan, India and Bangladesh. He has participated in about ten workshops and art camps. A freelance artist, he has worked as a designer for Dainik Bangla and Bichitra.