MS Subbulakshmi


Somewhere in Chennai of the 1930s, two teenage girls from traditional Hindu families sneaked into a studio to have their portraits taken in an avatar that they could surely never be seen in.

With a face that exuded calm, and a demeanor so poised, dressed always in a traditional silk sari, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't truly exciting to see this famous picture of the legendary singer MS Subbulakshmi, dressed in a men's night suit, pretending to smoke an unlit cigarette.

Here she is with the other legend, Bharatnatyam dancer Balasaraswati, the two of them audaciously breaking a few norms of their time.

Growing up in Rishi Valley, a boarding school in South India, I internalized the very distinctive sounds of Carnatic music without realizing it. Some mornings at home, we still play her rendition of the Suprabhatam, and once again, her music enters our souls.

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