The Call of Music: Recording journeys of resilience for the sake of art

Musicians often choose their path not out of choice, but from a persistent inner calling, a driving need for their being. In her latest book, reputed Hindustani classical vocalist Priya Purushothaman traces the experiences of eight singular voices in Hindustani classical music that have deeply inspired her. As a musician, the journeys of these individuals reminded Ms Purushothaman of the hardships that artistes have endured purely for the sake of their art. “Their stories, some heard and some unheard, form the contemporary landscape of this art,” she writes in the book’s Introduction.

 

During the pandemic, Ms Purushothaman felt an urgent need to document the inner stories of serious practitioners of music, many of whom are not in the limelight. Accordingly, she chose to include selected Hindustani musicians across a spectrum of ages in the collection. “What a young artiste may lack in experience, they may compensate for in freshness of perspective,” she explains. Each chapter in the book reads like a detailed biography, recounting incidents from the lives of the musicians. Ms Purushothaman devotes two chapters of the book to her own guru, Sudhindra Bhaumik, whose story was one of the first that motivated her to put together this collection.

 

Alam Khan carries the legacy of his legendary father, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, with modesty and responsibility. Growing up in California in the 1980s, he inhabited his musical world at home along with a starkly American culture outside. Having spent large amounts of time at the Ali Akbar College of Music, which his father founded in 1967, it became an extended musical family that was a huge part of Alam’s formative years. From his early teens, Alam began accompanying his father on tours to Europe, India and the US. Suhail Yusuf Khan, a sarangi player who has performed globally and collaborated across genres, is the youngest musician in the collection. The first hereditary musician to earn a PhD in ethno-musicology, he talks about issues of caste and discrimination as a Mirasi musician. “Beyond technique, materiality and pedagogy, the core of Suhail’s research is a critical analysis of the Mirasi experience,” writes Ms Purushothaman.

 

With consistent effort, world-renowned violinist Kala Ramnath innovated on an instrument that was introduced quite late into the Hindustani music space. A child prodigy, Ms Ramnath gave her first major public recital in Mumbai at the age of 18. A year later, she received the coveted A grade from All India Radio. Having faced several hurdles in her career, including many instances of gender discrimination, she speaks openly about issues, such as unequal pay, that have become normalised in the professional ecosystem of Hindustani music. “Sincerity, coupled with tremendous focus and discipline, form the foundation of Kalaji’s musical journey,” writes Ms Purushothaman. In similar vein, Shubhada Paradkar challenges ideas of gender in music. “She has walked the walk of womanhood and musicianship, creativity and personal innovation, quietly shifting gender norms and barriers through her music and way of being,” writes Ms Purushothaman.

 

Through his experience in music and activism, the queer transgender man Rumi Harish thoroughly questions perceptions of gender and voice. Another “star child,” he began performing from the age of 11. Over the years, Rumi’s engagement with activism deepened alongside multiple musical transitions. “Throughout a lifetime of music making and activism, Rumi has been in a continuous process of self-negotiation about his gender and sexuality,” writes Ms Purushothaman. Dedicating a lifetime to mastering various forms of Hindustani music, Shubha Joshi analyses ideas of the feminine voice and carves her own unique sound. Blessed with a voice that was always somewhat unique, she did not conform to societal expectations. “Though she has toured internationally and performed around India, in general she found that organisers in India were heavily biased towards presenting classical music,” writes Ms Purushothaman. Further, the author had the opportunity to accompany tabla artiste Yogesh Samsi as he travelled to various cities as a soloist and co-artiste with renowned vocalists. “The tabla player is expected to be a chameleon — blending the style of playing to match the aesthetic of the vocalist or instrumentalist,” explains Ms Purushothaman. 

The book is a must-read for all students as well as lovers of Hindustani classical music. Along the way, Ms Purushothaman shares many insights into the genre, such as the fact that imitative learning is a common method used in Hindustani music for the initial portion of training. “It is a phase of skill building, knowledge assimilation, voice culturing and honing of listening,” she writes. 

 

The reviewer is a New Delhi-based freelance writer