This is the first Indian edition of this remarkable book which created a great impact in France and was subsequently translated into English and Italian. This edition carries a fresh Afterword by Jean-Luc and Josiane Racine. Viramma an untouchable woman by birth, and listed as one of the authors, narrated the story of her life over a period of ten years to Josiane Racine, a Tamil-born ethnomusicologist educated in France. This book is the result of that conversation