Dr Shovana Narayan is India’s most eminent and venerated Kathak Guru-performer-choreographer but she has also served in the civil services, Indian Audit and Accounts till her retirement. An MSc in Physics, two MPhil degrees and a DLitt (HC), she is an educationist and a research scholar who has served in prestigious academic institutions. She has been decorated by the GoI with the Padmashri, the central Sangeet Natak Akademi award, Parishad Samman and Rashtriya Samman besides being a recipient of over 40 national and international awards. She has also authored over 16 books, several research papers and more than 300 articles. An Indian Administrative Service officer for over 30 years, Geetika Kalha has done extensive fieldwork in Northwest India to promote the revival, documentation and dissemination of art and culture. With a background in history, Kalha is now a writer and a consultant who specializes in rural tourism, museums and cultural interpretation. An avid traveller, birder, painter she also leads an NGO that provides underground wastewater management systems in villages. She is presently working on her next book.
