A month after Altaf's passing in Mumbai in 2005, his wife Navjot and daughter Sasha were going through his belongings in his meticulously maintained cupboard, when behind a large black box they discovered his journals. It was a great discovery for the family as it revealed a facet of Altaf's life that they were unacquainted with. Maintained by Altaf from 24 May 1973, when he was living in London as a twenty-one-year-old art student at Central Saint Martins, these journals show the 'inner workings of a creative mind,' as Sasha, who has edited these copious writings, puts it. The Journals allow a glimpse into the life of a young man, his daily life in a city that he engaged with through its ample opportunities to watch movies and plays, and visit exhibitions; psychological churnings regarding his future; his relationship with his family back home in Bombay; his friendships with the new people he met; his travels..... More importantly, they reveal Altaf to be a voracious reader and a highly enlightened political person. These journals, which end on 24 May 1973, when hs was back in Bombay, depict Altaf's deep sensitivity for global and Indian political affairs, his anxiety over the state of the world's oppressed, his ideological leanings towards Communism, and mlore. In sharing these journals, Altaf's family allows the world an insight into the making of a young man and a confident artist.