Carnatic music has survived contrary to all the gloom and doom that was predicted. New artistes are added, new labels released and new sabhas are born every year. If Carnatic music is still heard all over the world and makes an emphatic and grand statement of survival each year during the annual December season, it is because of a few great artistes who bore the art form aloft amidst crisis and threats. A colourful lot, much has been written about their art and the way they presented it. But very little has been written about their lives and their lifestyles, which must have had a significant bearing on their art. All of them were powerful personalities in their own right. This book looks at the lives of a select group of twenty such artistes who were at the forefront for most of their lives as top ranking performers.