In the 1970s, Sandeep Manchekar was your typical schoolboy exploring suburban life in a quiet neighbourhood of Goregaon. If one thing set Manchekar apart; it was his unconventional passion for pottery, one that he kindled by moulding tiny pots at the age of 10. At Studio White & Gray in Byculla this weekend, you might catch glimpses of the young, enthusiastic boy in the now 56-year-old ceramic arts veteran, as he plays with fire to introduce the city to Raku, an ancient, complex, and high-stakes Japanese form of pottery.

Manchekar recalls his first tryst with Raku in 1989, fresh out of Sir JJ School of Art where he pursued a diploma in arts and ceramics. Ullas Karde, a veteran ceramic artist from Bengaluru was visiting Kumbharwada, the potters’ cluster in Dharavi, to demonstrate Raku techniques. “I was drawn to the complexities and intricate designs that emerged from the process. I wanted to master it.”