Sunday, March 31, 2013
Melody Series
Pictures of Melody
series – by Lakshmi Devnath
India is a land of rich and diverse musical
traditions. While many of us know the names and music of our more famous
musicians, the younger generation in particular is much less likely to know
about their lives, and their journeys - often from humble beginnings - to the
pinnacles of musical accomplishment. Lakshmi Devnath addresses this important
void with her series of pictorial biographies of Carnatic musicians.
These biographies are in an easy to read graphic
novel format. They provide a lot of factual detail - the result of painstaking
research of existing printed materials in different languages by the author as
well as hours of conversations with family members of the musicians, who have
all added their seals of approval to the author's efforts. An innovative
expansion of the medium is the inclusion of original photographs interspersed
occasionally within the frames, bringing to life the story that is being
conveyed by the hand-drawn part of the narrative. In addition each book
includes a collectible signed photograph of the artiste.
The series has gotten a hugely positive reaction
from the Carnatic music community. “We need more books like these” according to
Bombay Jayashri. T.N. Krishnan describes it as a “pathbreaking effort”. And
Sudha Ragunathan says that the author “packs every line she writes with so much
emotion and passion”.
In return for 10-15 minutes of your time, each book
in the series will bring new-found appreciation of the genre of Carnatic music
and its key performers to young and old readers alike. That's good value for
money, particularly in today's low attention span world.
Available at
leading bookstores in major Indian metros and online at
For more
information visit http://www.lakshmidevnath.com/
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