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, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written 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