Book name- THE CALL OF MUSIC: 8 STORIES OF HINDUSTANI MUSICIANS
Author- Priya Purushothaman
Published by -Hachette, Price- Rs 699
It is refreshing to read about a field of art built on rigorous practice and discipline in times of instant gratification. To read about years of finding mentors, remembering the notes without writing them down or recording them to revisit later, and finding one’s voice after imitating the greats before them is humbling.
Priya Purushothaman is a Hindustani classical vocalist, who was troubled by the transience of life during the pandemic. This led her to profile eight Hindustani musicians — some known figures, some new, some away from the light. It is a familiar dread for any artist to lose valuable voices that shaped their artform through the ages and the stories behind them. It is then beautiful indeed for a practitioner to want to record the oral histories passed within the community over years, blurring the lines among myths, legends, and lived realities. In her attempt to do so, Purushothaman brings forth the intriguing life experiences of Alam Khan, Shubhada Paradkar, Sudhindra Bhaumik, Kala Ramnath, Rumi Harish, Suhail Yusuf Khan, Shubha Joshi and Yogesh Samsi.
In this collection, Purushothaman complements the notion of age bringing knowledge by acknowledging that young artists can add fresh perspectives to age-old traditions of classical music. She begins by telling the story of Alam Khan, the son of the legendary Sarod maestro, Swara Samrat Ali Akbar Khan. He reflects on the limitations of tradition and lineage in finding one’s voice, while also acknowledging the power of true collaboration which is “[a] thoughtful, aesthetic, and studied approach to all music
forms involved, from instrumentation and arrangement to album artwork and titles”.
The guru-shishya relationship is at the core of Hindustani classical music, as is the ritual of gandabandhan. Sometimes, the students born into the lineage of various gharanas simply follow suit. At other times, students have to seek mentors willing to guide them. In the case of Shubhada Paradkar, the guru, Gajananbuwa, came seeking her at her husband’s house. But Sudhindra Bhaumik struggled to find a willing guru much late in life. His life’s story, a two-part essay in the collection, is a clear example of how there are forces beyond humanity that lead one to survive adversities to answer the call of music. Rumi Harish struggled with various teaching methods amidst his activism and involvement with the LGBTQIA+ community before finding a guru who accepted him irrespective of his gender and sexual identity, focusing only on his desire to find his voice. For Harish, finding one’s voice and singing are political, implying they involve “finding new forms of expression, reimagining and breaking classical music tradition rather than remaining in its shackles”.
Music, like every other aspect of our society, is patriarchal. In narrating the experiences of women artists, Purushothaman brings to light the many biases that women have to negotiate with. For instance, Kala Ramnath questions the lack of respect and unequal pay for female artists in a patriarchal field. She is one of the few artists who ensures educating the audiences during her performances. But she was taken seriously only when she hired a male agent. Shubha Joshi, upon expressing her desire to sing thumris, was met with opposition from her father who believed such singing is done only by kothewalis, a perception put forward by the British who couldn’t appreciate the powerful positions tawaifs held in Indian society. In a similar yet academic vein, Suhail Yusuf Khan — the youngest in the list — looks at the British colonialist writing that used “Mirasi” pejoratively, wrongfully perceiving it as lower caste, impacting all those associated. His art then includes reclaiming his identity and rewriting the history of his people.
Purushothaman blends human experiences with prevalent social issues, making The Call of Music an immersive, engaging, and impactful book for music aficionados, novices, and outsiders. Despite the elevated aspects of Indian classical music, the most persuasive trait of artists here is the ability to discern when upholding tradition helps or hinders their practice and performance and how far they are willing to go to find their voice. This inked passion and the rigour of artists to stick to their calling despite adversities and failures are truly inspiring.