Review: The Music Room by Namita Devidayal

From my Substack:

Namita Devidayal’s memoir The Music Room is a chronicle of her relationship with her guru Dhondutai Kulkarni (1927-2014). The book describes Devidayal’s initiation into Hindustani classical music as a reluctant ten-year-old from Bombay’s upper-middle class. Along with describing her growing appreciation for Dhondutai and the music that she imparts to her, the narrative also tells the story of two other important figures in Hindustani music: Ustad Alladiya Khan (1855-1946)–the founder of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana–and Keserbai Kerkar (1892-1977)–one of the most famous khayal singers of the 20th century. Through telling the stories of these individuals, Devidayal elucidates several important themes such as communalism and “Hinduization” of music as well as the place of women in classical music.

Devidayal describes the process through which Hindustani music became communalized and “Hinduized”. Though Dhondutai is extremely proud of the musical legacy passed on to her by Alladiya Khan Sahib’s family, she still expresses some bigoted views about Muslims. When pressed on this by Devidayal, Dhondutai attempts to square the circle by telling her that Ustad Alladiya Khan was not a real Muslim since he was (allegedly) descended from a Brahmin singer who had been forced to convert to Islam by a Muslim king. She also notes that he always wore the caste thread usually worn by Brahmins. This story allows Dhondutai to hold the belief that Hindustani classical music is essentially Hindu despite the fact that many of the most prominent gharanas had Muslim founders. Dhondutai’s prejudices connect back to the broader process through which–during the colonial period– Hindustani music was “Hinduized” by reformers such as Pandit Bhatkhande and Pandit Paluskar. Bhatkhande wanted to create a “national music” and believed that Hindustani music had been degraded by Muslims and dancing girls and needed to be rescued from both. This process has been extensively discussed by Janaki Bakhle in her book Two Men and Music: Nationalism in the Making of an Indian Classical Tradition. Unfortunately, while most ethnomusicologists agree that Hindustani music is a syncretic tradition, many (on both sides of the India-Pakistan border) persist in claiming it for one or the other religion.

Another important theme that Devidayal discusses is the place of women in Hindustani music. Keserbai was descended from the devadasi community– female artists who were dedicated to performing in temples. During the colonial period, Westernized reformers influenced by Victorian morality led a social movement to cleanse Hindustani music of its associations with hereditary female performers–both devadasis and the North Indian tawaifs (courtesans). This movement is referred to as the “Anti-Nautch Movement” and focused on separating music and dance. This had an especially strong impact on the thumri– a light-classical genre expressing themes of romantic longing from a female perspective– since this genre was particularly associated with the courtesan’s salon. In order to make thumri safe for “respectable” women to perform, the genre had to be re-interpreted in a spiritual, rather than erotic, framework. I have elaborated on this process in my earlier essay “Thumri and Social Change”. Devidayal notes that the one time that Dhondutai became really angry with her was when she asked her to teach her a thumri. She describes Dhondutai’s response as follows: “‘Why have you come to me? That’s not what I do? If you want to sing thumris go to some bai” (211). Because of the stigma she had faced for coming from an hereditary performing community, Kesarbai did not even teach music to her own daughter. Similarly, Dhondutai’s own mother was worried that if people found out that her daughter was learning music (and that too from a Muslim), it would keep her from making a suitable marriage.

Overall, The Music Room is a fascinating account of the Hindustani music tradition and particularly of the master-disciple relationship (known in Hindi as guru-shishya parampara) It is an accessible introduction to the art form and highly recommended to those with an interest in the subject.

I will end this post by linking to a recording of Dhondutai singing Raga Tilak Kamod.