Mohammad ‘Katib’ Ghalib, 60, is the last known calligrapher working in the old quarter of Delhi, India's capital, an area that was once a flourishing centre for the art form. All photos: Taniya Dutta for The National
Mr Ghalib works from a corner of a bookshop facing the Jama Masjid, a mosque in Old Delhi.
The calligrapher keeps his wooden dip pens, a set of inks and a small box containing other tools next to him as he works.
The work is painstaking and keeps Mr Ghalib occupied for hours even though the demand for calligraphy has dropped.
Mr Ghalib displays a poster he worked on. Other jobs regularly given to calligraphers in the past included writing script for newspapers, magazines and books.
Mr Ghalib says many calligraphers gave up after computer publishing technology reduced demand for their work.
A poster Mr Ghalib worked on.
As the last remaining katib, Mr Ghalib is widely known in and around Delhi and even gets clients from faraway states and other countries.
Mr Ghalib says a challenge to keeping his art alive is the unavailability of tools and pens, because the companies that made them have closed.
Mr Ghalib feels the future is bleak because of the lack of economic incentives and the gradual decline of Urdu — the preferred language for India's calligraphers.
