Pt Jasraj didn't hold me back from asking difficult questions: biographer

Sunita Budhiraja, who has penned a biography on Pandit Jasraj, says the classical music veteran was like an open book and did not hold her back from asking difficult questions.

The author, who has penned "Rasraj: Pandit Jasraj", said the music legend was very forthcoming about the authorised biography.

"I told him that I need to ask him all sorts of questions because of the book. I asked if he was okay with me adding those portions to the final draft.

"He said, 'Whatever relationships and equations I have shared with people in this life have enhanced my music in one way or the other. So there is no need to hide anything from anyone'," she told PTI.

Budhiraja added she is not trying to "sell" the biography by highlighting any scandalous anecdotes as she believes such stories have a "short shelf-life".

"There are people who do such scandalous stories in their books, but those anecdotes have a really short shelf-life. I don't need cheap publicity and there is nothing cheap about Pandit Jasraj at all. I will not do it just for the sake of making it a racy, spicy read.

"Someone might say, about the book, that there is hardly any criticism. As a biographer, I don't think I need to criticise or highlight anything in particular. It is for the readers to take away from it what they do," Budhiraja added.

The writer said she interviewed over 200 people for the biography, but did not find a single person who had something negative to say about the legend.

"I had to find who would criticise him. If nobody said anything negative about him, it's not my business to write anything like that in the book."