Sebastian and Sons: A Brief History of the Mridangam Makers

298 Pages·2020·17.393 MB·English

by  T M Krishna

First published by Context, an imprint of Westland Publications Private
Limited, in 2020
1st Floor, A Block, East Wing, Plot No. 40, SP Infocity, Dr MGR Salai,
Perungudi, Kandanchavadi, Chennai 600096
Context, the Context logo, Westland and the Westland logo are
trademarks of Westland Publications Private Limited, or its affiliates.
Copyright © T.M. Krishna, 2020
ISBN: 9789389152180
The views and opinions expressed in this work are the author’s own and
the facts are as reported by him, and the publisher is in no way liable for
the same.
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
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permission of the publisher.
To
Sandanam,
Madhavan,
Gnaneshwaran,
and many like them we have chosen to forget
CONTENTS
START READING
1 THE ORIGINS IN THANJAVUR
2 THE MOVE TO MADRAS
3 THE MADRAS MAKERS
4 ARCHITECTS OF THE WOOD
5 THE DEPTH OF SKIN
6 THE BEAT’S HIDE
7 OF LABS AND LAVA
8 THE GREAT DEBATE
9 THE ANDHRA STORY
10 A DIFFERENT REGISTER
11 WOMEN IN CHARGE
12 THE MASTER MAKER
THE MAKERS’ FAMILY TREES
A BRIEF PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
‘The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound
was no longer a separate thing from the living village. It was like the
pulsation of its heart. It throbbed in the air, in the sunshine, and even in
the trees, and filled the village with excitement.’
—Things Fall Apart , Chinua Achebe