Celebrating The Bridge Home

Credit for the photographs below – An Open Book Foundation

A Time to Dance was inspired by Bharatanatyam dancers such as Shoba Sharma – and a viper bite…

Island’s End was inspired by the time Padma Venkatraman spent on the Andaman Islands. Below, you can see pictures of mangrove swamps (like the one Uido travels to in the novel), the research base where she lived, rainforests where she worked, small research vessels – and a large one on which she worked, as well as pictures of her in the laboratory when she was an oceanographer.

Climbing the Stairs is loosely based on Padma Venkatraman’s family history. Below you see photographs of Shri Cuddulore Padmanabhan Iyer (on whose life Kitta’s character is based), her mother  Smt. Ambujam Venkatraman (whose experiences as a teenager became incidents in the novel), her grandfather, Shri A. N. Aiyar (who inspired Thatha’s character), and the old family home. You can also see, below, some pictures of a reader looking through the readers’ theater  adaptation of Climbing the Stairs. Soon to be added: a picture of Navarathi kolu, kolams, a prayer room in a traditional Indian home, and other cultural references.

Pictures taken at events

Some fan mail