G D Paulraj - Planting Rice

I returned from a three week vacation to India on 7 December, it was the first time I had been back to India since 1974 some forty years ago.  While touring in south India I came across a framed painting by G D Paulraj resting on the floor of a museum in Pondicherry.  The museum contents were meant to have come from the former French Governor's house.  As Pondicherry got independence in 1954 this could be a guide to the age of the painting.

I talked to some other visitors about the Raj family but none of them knew about the artists.  Certainly the subject matter reflected what was happening in the fields today.  It was the only 'Raj' painting I saw on my travels.  I attach below  a photo I took of workers in the fields in November 2014 in Tamil Nadu, but they were not planting rice.

Mahabalipuram extract from cine film taken in 1962

Extract from a cine film taken in 1962.  This shows my father and I looking at the rock carvings at Mahabalipuram in Madras.  Not sure I have managed to upload a movie before.  Please note there is no sound.

I recently visited India and tried to take some photos in the same locations I will be posting these in the next few weeks.  Some 52 years apart a lot of time and very much busier as well.