The Wizard of Festival Lighting the Incredible Story of Sridhar Das

Eleven-year-old Sridhar was fascinated by light. Growing up among a dozensiblings in a mud cottage in Chandannagar inWest Bengal, he longed to createsomething beautiful.A school drop-out who never studied beyond Class Eight, he taught himself about lights and electricity by doing odd jobs at an electrician'sshop-an act that earned him a severe beating from his father. In spite of hisfamily's opposition, he grew up to become a celebrated light artist and inventor, setting new standards for festival lighting and pioneering new techniques.Sridhar Das's work was exhibited internationally, to great acclaim, from the Festivalof India in Russia to Ireland, LosAngeles and Malaysia. For theThames Festival inLondon, he created the famous three-dimensional illuminated peacock boat.This is his story, poignantly told by his granddaughter, Samragngi Roy. It takes usback to a vanished time, and introduces us to a man who pursued his dreams andcreated a new field through sheer determination.But fame and hard work took a toll on Sridhar, and those closest to him. Hiswife had to combat illness and loneliness to take care of the family, leaving herhusband free to forge his chosen path, and his daughter grew up with her famousfather largely absent.This is also the story of his family, an unflinching explorationof the price that was paid for his meteoric rise. It is both a nuanced portrait of acomplex man and an affectionate tribute to a beloved grandfather.