 In 1970, he shifted his base to Kochi where he became involved with "Kerala Kalapeedom" (Kerala Institute of Arts).Here, he had the opportunity to interact with a host of like-minded people such as M. V. Devan, Kanayi Kunhiraman, A. C. K. Raja, Namboothiri, K. P. Soman, M. K. K. Nair, C. N. Sreekantan Nair, M. K. Sanu, Pattathuvila Karunakaran, M. Thomas Mathew and T. Ramachandran.Three years later, he founded "Chitrakoodam", the first privately-owned art gallery in Kerala but the initiative ran only for four years until 1977.