Drag Sastra A Queer Lens on Natya Shastra for the Drag Artist

'Drag Sastra is a personal and powerful reimagining of the word Shastra as Sas-tra - where "Sas," taken from Patruni Sastry's drag name, becomes part of the theory itself. Inspired by classical texts like Natya Shastra and Abhinaya Darpanam, this book asks a simple but important question: what would a performance manual look like if it were written for drag artists?

As a classical dancer who became a drag performer, Patruni explores how ideas like rasa (emotion), bhava (expression), costume, character types, and transformation can be understood through drag. The book explains that gender fluidity, exaggeration, and performance have always been part of Indian culture - in temple art, folk theatre, mythological stories, and devotional practices. Drag is not something new or foreign; it has always existed in different forms within our traditions.

Written in clear and accessible language, Drag Sastra combines personal experiences with performance theory. It shows that drag is not just entertainment, but also discipline, art, storytelling, and even philosophy. This is Patruni Sastry's second solo book, after Life is DragSasta. While the first book focused on personal journey, Drag Sastra expands into a larger idea - placing drag and queerness within the long history of Indian performance traditions.