The editors of a new book on the art and life of Gulammohammed Sheikh, At Home In The World, which is heavier than a newborn, were compelled to stop when they crossed 450 pages. Because Sheikh, who has been awarded the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan, and is "one of the foremost artists of his generation," according to fellow artist and overachiever Gieve Patel, has been at the drawing board for 60 years.

"At one point, it looked like the book was going to become three volumes," says its editor, Chaitanya Sambrani. "The number of pages, images and words was just becoming unmanageable. When a career is this long and distinguished, it isn't easy to compress it into the space of one volume." The tome, as accurately described by Kiran Nadar, Sheikh's biggest collector, is "a 60-year retrospective in a book." The book will be released by doctor-artists Sudhir Patwardhan and Patel at Jnanapravaha Mumbai on March 30.