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Synopsis Icons brings you the stories of the men and women who have changed the face of India as we know it. By their achievements in their chosen fields, they have provided us with inspiration and encouragement. Each of the stories is a revelation of how talent, determination and individual aspiration can make heroes. Icons from the World of Arts contains the stories of some of India’s greatest artists and musicians. Masters in their own areas, their astounding talents and creativity have won them national and international renown, and have inspired generations of new students to dedicate themselves to the arts. This book tells us about: M.F. Husain, who rose from extreme poverty to become India’s most acclaimed painter M.S. Subbulakshmi, the ‘Nightingale of India’, who took Carnatic music to the world stage Lata Mangeshkar, whose golden voice has become synonymous with the best of Hindi film music Pandit Birju Maharaj, the great exponent and teacher of Kathak Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, who has dedicated her life to the study, practice and teaching of Bharatanatyam Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who effortlessly blends the traditional and the modern in his music and is one of the world’s greatest sarod players S. Nandagopal, who combines south Indian traditions with modernistic materials to create masterpieces of sculpture L. Subramaniam, the violin maestro and one of the greatest composers of fusion music Ustad Zakir Hussain, who has made the tabla a world instrument A.R. Rahman, who reshaped Indian film music and whose tunes now hold the world spellbound.