 The original technique of making Phad paintings had been a closely guarded family secret, and Mukherjee struggled there for two years until Shree Lal Joshi accepted to teach him.In return to this tutoring, Mukherjee vowed that he would not paint the traditional themes, Pabuji and Devnarayan, since this was the sole source of livelihood for the Joshi family.In 1980-82, he created a series of 108 Phad paintings on "Ramcharitmanas".