#Book Review: ‘My Name is Gauhar Jaan!’- The Life and Times of a Musician by Vikram Sampath

To begin with, if you're not a non-fiction reader and avoided exploring the genre of biography, after picking up this book, you would feel how lame were your inhibitions. I finished reading this 300 page book in one week- a feat that I had never achieved earlier and thanks to my dear friend D, who suggested me this wonderful book. It was the curiosity to know about the first gramophone record celebrity, Gauhar Jaan, and the status of Hindustani Classical music women maestros at the beginning of the 20^th century that continuously prompted me to turn one more page. The urge to know more about a songstress at her prime, the cult of ‘tawaifs’ and the bygone era had become quite insatiable at the end and I was crestfallen after reading ‘ Black Hole : The Death of a Star’.

The author, Vikram Sampath has exhaustively crafted a fabulous life story of the superstar Gauhar Jaan intertwined with the development of Hindustani Classical music and the birth of the Gramaphone Record Company in India. 

The book begins in dramatically, fictional style which immediately gets you hooked to the musical journey of 55 year old Gauhar Jaan. It is quite splendid to read the account of such a character who ruled the musical mehfils and was showered with honours and riches. The beginning is arresting, and one is immediately touched by the plight of the character, who was the first ruling diva in the first quarter of the 20^th century and the first one to perform at the Congress fund-raising concert and had identified the talent of the great musical maestro Begum Akhtar and had prophesized her rise. No doubt, Gauhar Jaan was the most enigmatic personality of Hindustani Classical Music and this magic urged Vikram Samapth to embark in a journey to unravel the life and glorious times of Gauhar Jaan which culminated in this wonderful book- My Name is Gauhar Jaan- The Life and Times of a Musician.

The book is divided into three sections- The Making of a Diva followed by The Glorious Years and the Fall from Grace. The book also records some colourful photographs of the diva, palaces, kings, Gauhar Jaan’s musical abode and a CD of Gauhar Jaan’s music.

Vikram Sampth took a long, arduous musical journey to identify facts from myth. In the absence of any documentation of that period, the author not only highlights Gauhar Jaan’s musical contribution in the light of socio-cultural moorings, but traces and describes the development of Thumri ( a form of Hindustani Classical music), and the evolution of the recording industry in India.

Sampath writes simply, without any poetic frills. He sticks to the era and interestingly unravels the mystery and distinct personality of those rich and glorious times. Concluding his foreward- Journey- Sampath wrote, “ I hope I have been able to throw some light on the life and times of one of India’s most colourful and feisty musicians…I sincerely wish that the readers will, at the end of the book, say, ‘What a woman ! What an age!’

Indeed, What a woman! What an age.

It’s a sure pick for those who want to relive those magical moments.

Publisher : Rupa

Genre : Non-Fiction 

#Book Review: Panty by Sangeeta Bandhopadhyay Translated by Arunava Sinha

I saw a lot of eyes staring at the book cover at the book shop and our society is such that people find such graphics titillating and pass stereotypical judgement. But I cared less and had reposed all my faith on my favourite translator Arunava Sinha. For me picking up this book was opening up the windows of my soul and gearing up my mind for something unexpected.

“Panty” by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay is a collection of two novellas – Hypnosis and Panty and each of them is about unrequited love, longing and sexual desire. The two novellas kept me thinking for a long time after I finished the book. It was a feeling of disappointment after I finished reading them as I wanted to journey to go on. It was a feeling of bitter-sweet melancholy with a silver lining of hope. 

That   cannot explain it but I will try – the feeling of melancholy, of utter hopelessness and yet so much hope and positivity lined with it. That is how good books mesmerizes you.

Hypnosis is about a woman trying to delve into her past through the process of hypnosis, to confront her doomed love affair with a well-known musician. In Panty, we meet a woman who has moved into a guest house and finds a panty there – it is soft and silky in leopard-skin print. She thinks the woman who wore it must have possessed a wild sexual nature. A feeling of companionship enveloper her; the sexual lives of the two women begin to mingle and blur.

Sangeeta’s voice is courageous. It is distinctive and organic. It was extremely honest, daring and unflagging. It comes from a place which is transparent. The book is a page turner, but it also makes you stop and think about life in general and also bigger things like- falling in love, lusting for one’s body, love unconsumed. The book is beyond all differences and is only about raw, unadulterated experience.

 Arunava Sinha’s translation only makes it possible for readers in English to experience this rich and almost lush piece of Bengali literature.“Panty” is a book which should be read without fear of being judged or being ridiculed. It is most beautiful and a candid work of Indian literature.

Genre - Fiction

Publisher – Penguin