Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam is a rare combination of a dancer, scholar, choreographer, teacher, singer, music composer, author and Indologist. Born on 4 February 1943, to Meenakshi and K. Subrahmanyam, Padma grew up in a household steeped in art and culture. Her father K. Subrahmanyam was a freedom fighter, a pioneer in Indian cinema, and a father figure in the cultural field, while her mother was a music  composer, and instrumentalist who played the veena, violin and the harmonium.  Padma learnt Bharatanatyam from Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai, and music from B.V. Lakshman and Salil Chaudhry. She sang with her sister-in-law Shyamala Balakrishnan in music albums titled Folk Music of Tamil Nadu and Deiva Tamizh Isai. Padma obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Music, a Master’s Degree in Ethno-musicology, and a Ph.D for her pathbreaking thesis on “Karanas in Indian Dance and Sculpture”. Based on her extensive field work and research, and drawing on her experience as a dancer, Padma reconstructed the 108 karanas through a correlated study of literature, temple sculptures and inscriptions. She revived an obsolete dance technique by translating into practice the theoretical concepts in the Natya Sastra.