It is a privilege to write the foreword of his book, which deals with the art and science of Tabla Playing, written by none other than the eminent scholar, music writer and accomplished Tabla guru, Pt. Vijay Shanker Mishra.

Pt. Vijay Shanker, trained under the tutelage of his illustrious father Pt. Gama Maharaj, belongs to long lineage of Tabla players of the Banaras Garana. Though himself a traditionalist, Vijayji uses contemporary research methodology to analyse the Tabla, Tabla playing, its origin and its development over the centuries from a modern perspective. A veteran writer and a musicologist of repute, he has to his credit more than 5000 articles and publications. Pt. Vijay Shankar Mishra also presented a 13 – episode serial on the "History of the Tabla", which was broadcast by All India Radio. In this Programme, Vijayji looked into many of the theories and stories regarding the origin of the Tabla. Separating history from myth and lore for the first time, Vijayji demonstrated how many of the prevalent beliefs regarding the origin of the Tabla were more myths or "gathas" (stories). He went on to put forth a theory regarding the origin of the Tabla and the development of various playing techniques, by textual and other forms of evidence, which has been generally accepted by Tabla players, scholars and connoisseurs alike.

Translated into English by Debasish Chakraborty, this present work is a continuation of his previous efforts. In this book Vijayji writes about 35 Taalas, including some very rare Taalas. Also this book contains rare compositions by the Master of different Gharanas. He also covers the Gharanas and their Vaadan styles and their particular compositions along with the Varnas