Sep 21 2025 to Sep 21 2025 11 a.m.

EVENT HAS ENDED

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Who was the first ghatam player in the universe? Was it Lord Ganesha, who drummed
out a rhythm on his potbelly? Or Shiva, whose love for the clay pot was so great that he
manifested on earth as a pot? Or, was it Gundayya, the potter, who played and played on
the pots he made? Or was it the village women who, since time immemorial, have
played on pots on their way to fetch water?

Song of the Clay Pot – My Journey with the Ghatam is an evocative and insightful story
of Sumana Chandrashekar’s journey as a ghatam player and a long-time student of
Carnatic music. This deeply personal account combined with history, legend,
philosophical questions and critical observations, blends seamlessly with extensive
research that also makes the book the first comprehensive public history of the
instrument.

In this discussion on the book, Sumana Chandrashekar and Arundhati Ghosh will open
up conversations around ways of documenting music histories, the interplay between
the personal and political, the critical need for women to write their own stories, the
politics of sound, aesthetics and hierarchies in Carnatic music and much more.

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Speakers

Sumana Chandrashekar
Ghatam Player, Author, Researcher & Storyteller
Sumana Chandrashekar is a ghatam player, author, researcher and storyteller. She studies the ghatam under Sukanya Ramgopal, and has been a student of Carnatic vocal music as well. Sumana has performed extensively, has worked on several experimental and collaborative music projects and projects in music education. As a researcher into music histories, her specific interest lies at the confluence of language, migration, gender and music. She has travelled widely in India and has worked closely with artists and artist communities. Her book titled Song of the Clay Pot – My Journey with the Ghatam from Speaking Tiger Books has just been released.

Arundhati Ghosh
Writer, Cultural Practitioner & Social Activist
Arundhati Ghosh is a writer, cultural practitioner, social activist, and traveller. With three decades of experience in the arts and culture, she served as the executive director of India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) between 2013 and 2023. She contributed on advisory boards of the Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Sangama, Blind With Camera, and Toto Funds the Arts, and continues to do so for The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), Shomokaleen Protibidhan (a feminist magazine in Bangla), the Solidarity Foundation, and Maraa. She volunteers with citizen initiatives that work towards an equitable society; speaks on the arts and philanthropy across international platforms; and writes for various publications. A poet in Bangla, publishing in little magazines since 2010, her first collection of poetry, Oshomoye Phire Esho Nodi Hoye, was published by Lastrada Prakashan in 2023. Her book All Our Loves: Journeys with Polyamory in India from Aleph Book Company came out in 2025. She consults and offers training programmes for the cultural and not-for-profit sector. She was raised in Asansol and is based in Bengaluru.