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 20th
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 20th 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
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