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 thingsabout 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 Devidayals 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 musicany music, in any culturemore 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 tales, the latter's life as a premodern woman and an important figure in India's musical history is laid out in rich prose. Winner of the 2008 Crossword Popular Book Award, India's most prestigious book prize."Library Journal
"This highly accessible memoir describes the journey of a 10-year-old girl into the higher reaches of classical Indian music. It also tells the history of this ancient art form and the story of some of its greatest performers. Devidayal has now studied with the same teacher, Dhondutai, for more than 20 years . . . As the book concludes in the present day, Devidayal continues to study with Dhondutai, but she is also a Princeton-educated professional journalist. This narrative serves to pass on some of the musical and cultural heritage of India even though the author has chosen to devote her life to writing and not to singing itself."Will Marston, Berkeley Public Library, CA, School Library Journal
"Devidayal is a 'reluctant ten-year-old' when she shows up for her first lesson in classical Indian singing, but the occasion marks the beginning of her musical lifetime, as chronicled in her new memoir. As a student at an Anglican school in Bombay, Devidayal is more at home speaking English and playing badminton than practicing the tanpura, an Indian stringed instrument. But as she progresses from one-note lessons to real ragas, she begins to realize that her mentor, the much-revered but never-quite-famous Dhondutai Kulkarni, offers life lessons as well as music lessons. Through the many stories Dhondutai relays to Devidayal (which range from factual to mythic), the reader is treated to a detailed history of Hindustani classical music and many intimate anecdotes regarding Dhondutai's own gurus, the legendary Bhurji Khan and Kesarbai Kerkar. Devidayal, who graduated from Princeton and now works as a journalist with the Times of India, was a gifted young singer, but lacked the passion to pursue the art professionally. This graceful memoir is a provocative illustration of music's unifying force in a religiously and socially stratified country."Publishers Weekly
"Readers fascinated by Eastern music will find [Devidayal's] account both informative and moving.....[A] book of haunting melodies." Seattle Times
Namita Devidayal was born in 1968 and graduated from Princeton University. A journalist with The Times of India, she lives in Mumbai.