‘The Music Room’

The Music Room’ – Namita Devidayal, Random House Publishers, 2008.

Every musician wants his or her music to create a divine experience for the audience.
To achieve this ability , a musician spends a lifetime learning and exploring the art and craft of music. A musician is like an ascetic wandering in search of the divine spirit within his or her own soul. In a way a musician is away from this mortal world, and yet requires to be a part of it , needs all the materialistic support from it, without which the journey he or she has begun cannot be continued or completed.

‘The Music Room’ is a captivating story of the musician ascetics of the Jaipur lineage, their lives, their struggles, their achievements in the field of music and various aspects of their bizarre journey through the realities of this earthly world.

The story begins as a first person narrative of a typical south Mumbai girl who is taken by her mother, obviously passionate about music, to Dhondutai Kulkarni to learn music from her. The reader climbs up the squeaky stairs of a dingy chawl which happens to be Dhondutai’s residence which also doubles up as a music room where the writer embarks upon a journey into the world of music.

The lucid story written in simple, contemporary language by Namita Devidayal compels the reader to read every word of her story which flows like a novel. As the story evolves, the writer’s canvas unfolds to explore the social realities of the life and patronage of musicians. Hindustani music, which was performed by musician men in Royal courtrooms under the patronage of kings and courtesan women musicians in their own places patronised by their rich clients just about a century ago, becomes more democratised and accessible to the ordinary people with the help of the great pioneering work done by Paluskar and Bhatkhande . Music actually starts being performed in public concerts. The social reforms do away with the Devdasi tradition . The political transformation brings about end of the existence of the princely states . This takes away the support of the great musical families which once nurtured the art in gharanas like universities of music . The writer tells us the story of Alladiya Khan, Manji Khan, Bhurji Khan, and also of Kesarbai. She becomes an insider for us to have a keen look into their professional and personal lives, their music and their dedication to their art . She also tells us a great deal about their passing on their music to their students . She tells us about how Muslim musicians respectfully performed in temples before the morning poojas and how the best paid classical singer of her times sacrificed and severed music from the life of her daughter because she chose social respect over music.

The story of these musicians takes us not only through the journey of Hindustani music in India with reference to the Jaipur lineage, but also portrays the incredible and dynamic change  in its social fabric.
And the life of Dhondutai becomes a metaphor of the art of Hindustani music, which has survived and thrived through the social and cultural revolutions of the last century, but still faces an uncertain future.