Category: Specials

When Namita is ten, her mother takes her to Dhondutai, a respected music teacher from the great Jaipur Gharana. Dhondutai’s antecedents are rich- she is the only remaining student of the legendary Alladiya Khan, the founder of the gharana and of its most famous singer, the tempestuous Kesarbai Kerkar. Namita begins to learn singing from Dhondutai, at first reluctantly and then, as the years pass, with growing passion. Dhondutai sees in her a second Kesar, but does Namita have the dedication to give herself up completely to music-or will there always be too many late nights and cigarettes?
Here are six anecdotes from her book, The Music Room that offer a glimpse into the life of classical musicians:
 
Some classes (and concerts) sucked the joy out of singing.
“I hated my mother for pushing me into this embarrassing, depressing world. Besides these classes, I was routinely dragged to even more irksome music concerts, where I would usually fall asleep and wake up when the singer was rendering fast, arpeggiated passages which meant the end of the show was near.”

~

The most talented musicians had some interesting neighbours
“The music teacher lived in an old building under Kennedy Bridge… [it]was a neighbourhood known for prostitutes and gentlemen’s clubs, but not for musicians. The only other time I had heard of Kennedy Bridge was when my parents joked about their adventurous evening in a mujrah dance parlour many years ago.”

~

A cough is a serious illness which needs to be taken care of using any means necessary (superstitious or otherwise)
“During my next lesson, I was made to sit on the sofa with the marigold garland around my neck, looking like a horrendous child goddess, while my teacher circulated a hairy brown coconut around my head three times, muttering a mantra…I don’t know whether it was the coconut ritual, the plant, or a heavy dose of vitamins, but my cough disappeared.”

~

Even bandits appreciate good music
“Before leaving, the bandits happened to ask the brothers where they had gotten the money. When they found out that they were musicians, they asked them to sing. At first the duo was nervous, but as they warmed up, they forgot where they were, or who their audience was, and sang a sublime raga. The bandits were so moved by their music, that they returned not just Khansahib’s purse but also gave them whatever other stolen jewels and money they were carrying.”

~

Musicians can go to extreme lengths to plagiarize…
 “Rajabali Khan, moved into a house right next to Alladiya Khan’s home so that he could secretly listen to the Khansahib while he practiced and then try and copy his style. He did this for years, until his singing actually began to sound like Alladiya Khan’s music, and he even became a well-regarded performer. Finally Alladiya Khan persuaded the king to send the plagiarist away.”

~

Competitors can come up with extremely creative (and illegal) ways to get you out of the picture
“One hot afternoon, Badeji was playing cricket and the ball hit him right on the chest. He vomited a little blood. Worried about his growing prowess as a singer, some rival musicians went to a local doctor and bribed him to give an incorrect diagnosis about Badeji so that he would never sing again.”
 

Beautifully written, full of anecdotes, gossip and legend, The Music Room is perhaps the most intimate book to be written about Indian classical music yet.
 
 
 

Is Raju the perfect imposter?
R.K.Narayan’s The Guide follows Raju, a corrupt tourist guide who, together with his lover, the dancer Rosie, leads a prosperous life before he is thrown into prison. After release he rests on the steps of an abandoned temple when a peasant passing by mistakes him for a holy man. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he begins to play the part, acting as a spiritual guide to the village community.
Here are some quotes from the book that showcase his mastery over the art of deception:
 
“Raju himself was not certain why he had advised that, and so he added, ‘If you do it you will know why.’ The essence of sainthood seemed to lie in one’s ability to utter mystifying statements.”

~

“A clean-shaven,close-haired saint was an anomaly. He bore the various stages of his make-up with fortitude, not minding the prickly phase he had to pass through before a well-authenticated beard could cover his face and come down to his chest. By the time he arrived at the stage of stroking his beard thoughtfully, his prestige had grown beyond his wildest dreams.”

~

“…the age I ascribed to any particular place depended on my mood at that hour and the type of person I was escorting. If he was an academic type I was careful to avoid mention of facts and figures and to confine myself to general descriptions, letting the man himself do the talking.”

~

“He had a subtle way of mentioning his special requirements…He enunciated some principle of living such as that on a special Wednesday he always liked to make his food with rice flour and such-and-such spice, and he mentioned it with an air of seriousness so that his listeners took it as a spiritual need, something of a man’s inner discipline to keep his soul in shape and his understanding with the heavens in order.”

~

“They assumed that he was fasting in order to stop their fight, and he was not going to announce to them that he had already had two meals during the day. He would just leave it at that, and even if his eyes should drop a little out of seeming fatigue,it would be quite in order.”

~

“…we had surreptitious drinks too, although there was a prohibition in force —well, the prohibition law was not for a man of my influence. I had managed to get a medical certificate to say that I needed alcohol for my welfare.”

~

“He decided to look as brilliant as he could manage, let drop gems of thought from his lips, assume all the radiance available, and afford them all the guidance they required without stint. He decided to arrange the stage for the display with more thoroughness. With this view he transferred his seat to the inner hall of the temple. It gave one a better background.”
 

Set in R.K. Narayan’s fictional town, Malgudi, The Guide is the greatest of his comedies of self-deception. For more posts like this, follow Penguin India on Facebook!