In ‘The Call of Music: 8 Stories Of Hindustani Musicians’, Priya Purushothaman spotlights hidden gems of music

Many musicians have interesting stories to tell. These could be about their approach, the challenges they encountered or the dilemma faced between tradition and change. In ‘The Call of Music: 8 Stories of Hindustani Musicians’, Priya Purushothaman focuses on eight artistes who have dedicated their lives to music. Through their stories, she also describes the way the Hindustani music system functions. What’s noteworthy is that she hasn’t opted for the predictable star names. Yet, all the musicians are respected within the music community and admired by connoisseurs.

The book begins with sarod exponent Alam Khan. The son of legendary sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Alam grew up in Marin County, California, in the 1980s. He thus inhabited two worlds: “the musical world at home and at the Ali Akbar College of Music, and starkly American culture at school, and virtually anywhere else.”

Purushothaman slowly transitions this background into a detailed description of the senior Khan’s style of teaching, whether on how to play alaap, the importance of listening or preparing for a concert.

From California, Purushothaman moves to Dombivli and Badlapur near Mumbai to vocalist Shubhada Paradkar, whose life juggles between riyaaz, children and household chores. She first learnt from Pandit Gajananbua Joshi, a master of Gwalior, Jaipur and Agra gharanas. After his death, she went to Agra gharana vocalist Pandit Babanrao Haldankar, and later to Jaipur gharana stalwart Padmavati Shaligram. The chapter compares their teaching styles in granular detail.

A classical vocalist, Purushothaman has been trained in the Agra gharana by Aditi Kaikini Upadhya, daughter of vocalist Pandit Dinkar Kaikini, and Pandit Sudhindra Bhaumik. In all stories, she maintains a remarkable balance between human interest storytelling and technical elaboration.

One may wonder why Bhaumik’s story has been divided into two chapters, but it’s such an inspiring tale that it grips the reader. In her introduction, the author says, “His story was one of the first that motivated me to create the collection, because I believe that so many people can take inspiration from his radical approach to life.”

The book maintains a good balance between vocalists and instrumentalists. The chapter on Bengaluru-based trans-man and gender rights activist Rumi Harish talks of how he had to re-train his voice after hormone treatment, and how the vocal uncertainty caused distress. Singer Shubha Joshi faced resistance at home because she wanted to learn thumri, a style associated with courtesans. But she persevered and became one of the disciples of Shobha Gurtu.

Violinist Kala Ramnath took a major decision after tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain advised her on finding her own style, instead of copying her aunt, the brilliant N Rajam. Sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan had to face huge expectations from elders from a very young age. Finally, tabla exponent Yogesh Samsi talks about his association with his guru, Ustad Allarakha, the salient features of the Punjab tabla gharana, how he observed Zakir Hussain’s concerts closely and how he met someone with a musical treasure at a chance encounter in Ludhiana.

With her fluid writing style and attention to detail, Purushothaman captures the lives of these musicians in an engaging manner. These stories needed to be told, and though the focus is on Hindustani musicians, they would fascinate readers with a taste for any form of Indian music.

— The reviewer is a Mumbai-based music journalist