Gangubai Hangal: "You eat food don't you? Music is my food". This was the reply Gangubai Hangal gave when someone asked her why she still sang at her age. The doyen of Hindustani vocal who mesmerised audiences with her melodious voice for over six decades died at the age of 97. Recipient of many international accolades and national awards including Padma Vibhushan and Tansen award, Gangubai continued to keep in touch with her gurubhai Bharat Ratna winner Pandit Bhimsen Joshi along with Pandit Rambhau Kundgolkar, also known as Sawai Gandharva. The vocalist, who had studied only up to class fifth, went on to serve as honorary professor and then as Senate Member of Karnatak University, Dharwad. For her generation, singing was not considered an appropriate employment; she, however, struggled against this prejudice, made a career in music and performed extensively. She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, in 2002.

Habib Tanvir: Habib Tanvir was one of the most popular Urdu, Hindi playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. During his lifetime he won several national and international awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1969, Padma Shri in 1983, Kalidas Samman 1990, Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1996, and the Padma Bhushan in 2002. His play Charandas Chor (Charandas, The Thief) got him the Fringe Firsts Award at Edinburgh International Drama Festival in 1982. For him true "theatre of the people" existed in the villages, which he strived to bring to the urban "educated", employing both folk performers as actors alongside urban actors. His theatre offered an incisive blend of tradition and modernity, folk creativity and skills on the one hand and modern critical consciousness on the other. It is this rich as well as enriching blend which makes his work so unique and memorable and makes him a legend.

DK Pattamal: Damal Krishnaswamy Pattammal was popularly referred as one of the “female trinity of Carnatic music”, the other two being MS Subbulakshmi and MLVasanthakumari. This trio initiated the entry of women into the mainstream of Carnatic music. She is the first woman to have performed this genre of music publicly, both on stage and on air. In her time the society considered it taboo for a Brahmin woman to perform on stage. Furthermore, Pattammal is also the first woman to have performed Ragam, Thanam and Pallavi in concerts, which is the most difficult item in Carnatic music. She was honoured with the Sangeet Natak Academi Award , the Sangeetha Kalanidhi (considered the highest accolade in Carnatic music) in 1970, the Padma Bhushan in 1971, and the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honor, in 1998. Pattammal was also elected Fellow of Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1992.

Ustad Ali Akbar Khan: A recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan was a colossus in the world of Indian classical music for the last five decades. One of the most accomplished of Indian musicians in the Classical tradition, he has been designated 'Living National Treasure' in India – he is admired world wide for his absolute mastery of the 25-stringed sarod.

Palghat R Raghu: Padma Shri Palghat Raghu is known for his distinctive style of playing the mridangam. When it came to popularising the mridangam, Palghat R Raghu was as significant as Alla Rakha was with the Hindustani tabla. A child prodigy, he gave his first concert when he was just 12 years old. He raised the mridangam's profile to new heights, as a musician, a visiting professor at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and also as an inspiration to new generations of musicians.

Tyeb Mehta: Born in 1925 in Gujarat, Tyeb Mehta started his career as a film editor in a cinema laboratory. An interest in painting took him to Sir JJ School of Art. He hit the headlines in the art world when his painting was sold for a whopping Rs 1.5 crores. In 2005, his picture Kali was sold for Rs 1 crore. In 2007, his other painting, Christine, was sold in an auction for a whopping amount. He was honoured with Padmasri by the Indian government in 2007.