The Maverick Maharaja

A maharaja who was proficient in both world music and Carnatic. A maharaja who coupled industrial development with arts. ‘The Maverick Maharaja’ chronicles Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar’s life and times, ‘set against the backdrop of the politically turbulent period that saw the birth of India’. Philosophy, wildlife conservation, philately, photography, music, statesmanship — all converged in his consciousness like perfectly fitting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When it was time to take the decision to join the Indian republic, he relinquished royal power and emerged from the shadows of his crown and found a life of significance.

Exposed to Gurmat Sangeet since childhood, Harjap Singh Aujla always felt that while there was no dearth of writings on the subject in Punjabi, nothing was available in English. In ‘His Master’s Words’, he corrects this wrong and studies the lives of leading exponents of Gurmat Sangeet in East Punjab, Pakistan and Delhi and contrasts the various styles that are or were prevalent. It begins with the life sketch of kirtania Bhai Jwala Singh and Bhai Samund Singh and includes those of exponents such as Bhai Joginder Singh and Mohinder Singh from Nankana Sahib, Bhai Harjinder from Srinagar and Dr Gurnam Singh from Patiala, among others.