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Music Room

by Namita Devidayal

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Overview
Readers reviews (5)

Product Details

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Publishing date: 03/02/2009
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9780312536640
ISBN: 031253664X

Synopsis

When Namita is ten years old, her mother takes her to Kennedy Bridge, a seamy neighborhood in Bombay, home to hookers and dance girls. There, in a cramped one-room apartment lives Dhondutai, the last living disciple of two of the finest Indian classical singers of the twentieth century: the legendary Alladiya Khan and the great songbird 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 Kesarbai, but does Namita have the dedication to give herself up completely to the discipline like her teacher? Or will there always be too many late nights and cigarettes? And where do love and marriage fit into all of this?

A bestseller in India, where it was a literary sensation, The Music Room is a deeply moving meditation on how traditions and life lessons are passed along generations, on the sacrifices made by women through the ages, and on a largely unknown, but vital aspect of Indian life and culture that will utterly fascinate American readers.

Namita Devidayal was born in 1968 and graduated from Princeton University. A journalist with The Times of India, she lives in Mumbai.

Shortlisted for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize
An Outlook Best Book of the Year

When Namita is ten years old, her mother takes her to Kennedy Bridge, a seamy neighborhood in Bombay, home to hookers and dance girls. There, in a cramped one-room apartment lives Dhondutai, the last living disciple of two of the finest Indian classical singers of the twentieth century: the legendary Alladiya Khan and the great songbird 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 Kesarbai, provided Namita has the dedication to give herself up completely to the discipline like her teacher.

The Music Room is a deeply moving meditation on how traditions and life lessons are passed along generations, on the sacrifices made by women through the ages, and on a largely unknown, but vital aspect of Indian life and culture.

"A must for every musician and music lover."—Ravi Shankar

"[The Music Room] gives us a unique insight into the guru-shishya tradition, and what eventually goes into the making of great artists."—Sonia Gandhi

"Namita Devidayal seduces you into the magical world of Indian classical music. She makes an ancient tradition come alive for us through her lively storytelling and gives insights into what makes it so powerful."—Zakir Hussain

"A sparkling, one-of-a-kind book."—Mumbai Mirror

"Unquestionably one of the best books of the year."—Sunil Sethi, Just Books, NDTV

"The book is full of touching passages. . . . The story of the bewitching, volatile Kesarbai Kerkar speaks of so many things -- about women trying to find their voice in a society ridden with hypocrisy and ambivalence towards 'singing women.'"—The Hindu

"Lyrical, stunning prose."—The Times of India

"The descriptions of Bombay localities are finely etched."—Outlook

"Through its graceful, expressive prose . . . The Music Room speaks equally of human frailty and worldly successes."—Business Standard

"There has been an aching void waiting to be filled with the story of Indian sound. Namita Devidayal has now done it."—India Today

"An intimate, tender portrait of classical Indian musicians and their art in a fast-changing world. In Namita Devidayal’s deft, evocative prose, the reader encounters the legendary women who sacrifice everything in their quest for perfection, the eccentric maestros, the heartbreaks and sublime triumphs of lives spent on the stage and in solitary, rigorous practise that also becomes a kind of ecstatic devotion. The Music Room is an invaluable book which serves as a personal history, a historical and social record, and a glimpse of the ineffable. Moving and unforgettable."—Vikram Chandra, author of Sacred Games and Love and Longing in Bombay

"A compelling narrative of three generations of maestros and students, The Music Room is essential reading for lovers of Indian music, movingly illuminating the transition of Indian classical music from its confident past to a fragile present."—Gita Mehta, author of A River Sutra and Karma Cola

"The Music Room is a revelatory memoir which opens up the hidden world of classical Indian music, and succeeds in expressing the almost inexpressible. At once tender, wise, moving and compassionate, almost every page of this extraordinary book contains some startling image or insight, and I have never read a book which describes music—any music, in any culture—more beautifully. With this stunning, soulful, loving debut, Namita Devidayal announces herself both as a soaring prose virtuoso and a major new Indian writer of nonfiction."—William Dalrymple, author of The Last Mughal

"A student's loving tribute to her musical guru. Growing up in an affluent Bombay family, Devidayal participated in an increasingly Westernized lifestyle. Nonetheless, her mother insisted she must learn to sing Indian classical music from the best teacher available. At age ten she met Dhondutai, a musical disciple of the great singer Alladiya Khan. Dhondutai's training was rigorous; she instructed Devidayal to start out singing just a single note for weeks, progressing with painstaking slowness through one raga, or musical mode, at a time. Their relationship enfolded the girl in a priceless tradition, which involved knowledge passed down from teacher to student over centuries. In addition to melodies and rhythms, Devidayal absorbed the stories and legends of an illustrious but neglected heritage. Although the physical location of the music room changed a few times, the sacred space that Dhondutai created within and around their lessons remained constant. The author paints herself in the background of this memoir, rendering her teacher's story in full color. She balances narrative time between the present and Dhondutai's past, presumably as reported during years of conversation. She seeks to unfold the mystery of why Dhondutai never attained the popular success that seemed to be promised by superlative talent and well-connected teachers, including the fiery diva Kesarbai Kerkar. Devidayal also relates the history of Indian classical music, a blend of Muslim and Hindu influences, and charts the changing roles of female performers, long considered courtesans and unfit for proper society. She pays homage to the precious knowledge with which she was entrusted, not only of the subtle and powerful ragas, but of the art form's luminaries and their intimate life stories. Quietly passionate, edifying and inspiring."—Kirkus Reviews

"Part coming-of-age story, part meditation on the classical music traditions of India, this book tells of the relationship between Devidayal, a young musical prodigy and daughter of privilege, and Dhondutai, her dignified, gifted teacher. From Dhondutai, the author learns an oral tradition that has been handed down through the ages, and she gains a lifelong friend and mentor. Promising Namita chooses life as a journalist, wife, and mother over a music career but never gives up her lessons. Through flashbacks inspired by Dhondutai's tale

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Awaiting more books from Namita Devidayal
From Amazon

Learning Indian classical music for decades and seeking education and stories that convey the beautiful traditions and authentic episodes of the maestros and would-be's, I found this book impossible to put down. At the same time I did not want it to end. I could live in its memorable depictions as my own. I hope we get more to read from Ms.Devidayal soon and that she continues to fill our appetite for devotion to the classical arts of India.

Detailed, but sterile
From Amazon

The Music Room is full of details that would interest a student of Indian music, but lacks the emotional zest which would endear it to the general masses. While the book is called a memoir, the author remains very distant about her personal life, focusing on her teacher and other great musicians. This detachment gives the book a rather sterile feel and fails to pull the reader along with it.

Captures the zeitgeist
From Amazon

Those not familiar with the world of Indian classical music and the guru-shishya tradition will no doubt find the book compelling reading. As will those who are familiar. However, more striking than her homage to her guru, is the fact that the book captures the zeitgeist of a period that has passed. For instance, I don't know of any Indian parents from an upper class westernized background who today would send their child to a far flung suburb (whether by public transport or by car) to learn classical music - much less to a red light area. And even if they want to, I doubt any of the spoilt brats would bother to go. The book abounds with instances of what today would be most improbable. Within the story of music and the guru-shishya tradition is an equally important story of the city of Mumbai. And here too Devidayal excels. Contrast her description with that by Suketu Mehta : people now over 40 and born and brought up in Bombay can sense that Mehta has not been able to capture the soul of the city. (Notwithstanding his long stay in Mumbai, his meeting all kinds of people and the blaze of publicity). Devidayal, on the other hand, is immersed in it. Without doubt, the most enthralling book I have read recently.

A many-layered story --
From Amazon

The Music Room is several things at once: an informal oral history, a social commentary, even a multi-person biography, if one could call it that. The unifying thread of Indian classical music runs through the book, but somehow unexpectedly lightly -- one wishes that the author would have put more of her own reactions to what she was learning and singing. But this is a trivial complaint; Namita Devidayal's written voice, rational and reflective, unaffected and clear-eyed, yet sympathetic and accepting, succeeds admirably in weaving a tapestry of lives of remarkable people, of a sadly fading musical culture, of the contradictions and strengths of Indian society, and of changing times, all in one remarkable book. To convey so much in a relatively compact format, The Music Room is organized in snapshots -- yet these flow well in time and space, mirroring in some way the structure and time-cycles of a classical music performance. I even read through the book as if going to a long evening concert -- in two absorbing sittings. This is one of those rare books it is impossible not to whole-heartedly recommend.

A Journey Through Sound
From Amazon

"To play a raga, you must see it standing in front of you." India, to the foreign audience, is often impenetrable and overwhelming. A country of more than one billion people and more than 500 languages, it's not surprising that diving into India is like falling splash in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight. To understand India, it's always better to view it one facet at a time. Trying to take them all in at once can lead to temporary color-blindness. So if you want to take India one slice at a time, savor it and digest it fully, start with this book. It details the musical career of Namita Devidayal, from the age of ten when she is first introduced to her mentor, through the rest of her life. The old adage says 'writing about music is as ridiculous as dancing about architecture'. Not in this book. The book's central character is the music and it grows and matures along with little Namita. The music is at once ephemeral and lucid, a phantom that soaks every page. To understand India, one must understand a thousand things. One of them is its music. There is no better exploration of Indian music in words than this book.