Written with a deep sense of gratitude bordering on reverence, Girija: A Journey through Thumri presents Girija Devi in all her manifestations - singer, guru, householder, Bhakta. Amazingly, she manages to project herself as a very credible, flesh-and-blood person of the here-and-now world: someone who can sing breathtaking compositions with the same effortless ease as she rustles up a meal and watches an Amitabh Bachchan film. Humility and majesty, non-attachment and deep attachment: apparent contradictions fuse together to form the Girija Devi that Yatindra Mishra presents to us.

Editor, poet, critic, music aficionado, Yatindra Mishra edits Sahit, the bi-annual journal of literature and the arts. He has travelled to Britain, Mauritius and the US to speak on music and recite his poems. Mishra's series of Ayodhya poems have been translated into German and published in Berlin. He has also published two anthologies of poems, Ayodhya Tatha Anya Kavitayen and Dyorhi par Alap. He is a recipient of National Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship and Rajiv Gandhi Rashtriya Ekta Puraskar for his work through Vimla Devi Foundation Nyas from Ayodhya.