We journey into the past to highlight the achievements of T. Lakshmana Pillai, a resident of Tiruvanantapuram who composed more than 200 songs in the Carnatic mode and in Tamil; and who wrote essays on Tyagaraja, Travancorean music and musicians and other subjects (19-34). Pillai was himself a very interesting personality but the feature focussing on him includes also absorbing narratives with an authentic flavour on Tyagaraja, Vadivelu of the Tanjavur Quartet, a court musician of Swati Tirunal named Parameswara Bhagavatar, and an encounter between two Carnatic music giants.

The other important feature in this issue concerns dance, of course. Dancers & Festivals Of India: Selection System Under Scrutiny is on complaints voiced by many dancers and dance guru-s regarding the selection of performers for participation in India festivals held abroad (35-40). The feature is based on responses to questions posed to officialdom, dancers and dance guru-s.

While these are the main stories in this issue, which marks the completion of eight years of the magazine'spublication, there are many other items of interest. Besides the Music Appreciation Notes, the Record Rack and Dr. Arudra's notes on javali, the News & Notes section includes a report on the interesting anniversary celebrations of a youth association for Carnatic music, on two awards of significance, the staging of an English version of a Sanskrit play in New York, and assessment of two music personalities who passed away recently.

The sketch of Lakshmana Pillai on the cover is by Narendran.