Face the Day with a Song : Memoir of a Dancer- Engineer – Lakshmi Venkatesh

DescriptionThe book is based on the author’s experience as a chemical engineer from the 1980s when it was rare for women to join the male-dominated oil and gas industry. Dance acts as a counterpoint to her life as she shifts between choices early in her career, and provides an anchor as she grows in her profession. The memoir looks at life through the eyes of a woman and the world she encounters, torn between a career, a much-loved art form and family. Key events in Indian history like the Emergency, the Bhopal disaster, and the Hindu-Muslim riots are woven into the narrative from the point of view of the impact it had on a young woman’s life. It uses the format or the Margam of a traditional Bharatanatyam stage performance to depict the stages of progression from a young girl, a career woman, a wife and mother, a caregiver, and finally, a woman nearing retirement from a fulfilling career with varied interests to keep her moving forward in life.A fascinating read. Lakshmi straddles the period when the world we knew changed to a new one, with hand drawings being replaced with CAD, with phones as we knew them becoming obsolete, and technology making much of our past unbelievable. She also straddles the world of high engineering and performing arts, a very uncommon combination. And she writes with an easy voice and with honesty. — Mallika Sarabhai, activist, classical dancer and actressA fascinating and heartwarming story of a multifaceted and talented person — daughter, mother, wife, artist and engineering professional — all of the highest order rolled into one. — K Venkataramanan, former CEO and MD of L&TLakshmi Venkatesh started dancing at the age of seven. A trained Bharatnatyam dancer, Lakshmi performed on stage for two decades. Along the way, she acquired a degree in Chemical Engineering. Her corporate career, spanning four decades, saw her grow from a graduate engineer to heading multinational companies in the oil and gas sector. Lakshmi is one of the few women to be on the Board of Directors of companies in India. Lakshmi loves to paint, and her art venture operates under the banner of Adyant Arts.Related