#Inktober2019 | Day-16 | "Wild" This illustration is based off of a photograph shot at a studio in 1937, in Madras. The story goes that two women walked in, wearing saris but changed into western-style pajamas and posed for a photograph, unlit cigarettes in hand. These were none other than Bharatnatyam dancer Balasarawati and my solace, the world-renowned Carnatic vocalist M.S. Subbulakshmi Amma. This photograph was released to the world only in 2009, 73 years after it was shot. We all remember these women, particularly MS Amma as demure and 'homely' but they are but wild spirits who secretly hit a photo studio to assert their independence (especially as they come from really strict households). I love MS Amma as is, but ever since I saw this picture, I was just so tickled and happy to see the absolute badass that she was at the time to do something like this. :) Photo in comments for reference. Photo in comments from Balamma's biography. “The two teenaged friends both became world-famous artists,” wrote Douglas Knight J in the biography Balasaraswati: Her Art & Life. “From strictly disciplined households, the two asserted their independence by secretly arranging this photograph of themselves dressed outrageously in Western-style sleepwear and pretending to smoke cigarettes.” #Procreate #DigitalDrawing #MSSubbulakshmi #Balasaraswati (at Columbus, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/B30_o5pD1Tn/?igshid=bhans6e3b6oz
