Portrait of an Artiste

The contorted expression on Ustad Alauddin Khan’s face when he played raag Mian Malhaar on sarod has haunted connoisseurs who heard him live. So much so,that many of them fell at his feet. Yet,analysing the genius of the musician who died in 1972 is a Herculean task given that much of the maestro’s life story is hidden in mist since he was not a friendly man,open to revealing his innermost memories. Ustad Alauddin Khan/Sahana,(Roli Books,Rs 495) a book by Sahana Gupta,great-granddaughter of Khan,now brings alive the legend who taught Pt Ravi Shankar,Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and even the Maharaja of Maihar,Brijnath Singh,among others.

“He was a devout Muslim who read the namaz five times a day but also worshipped Sharda Ma,” says Gupta who calls her book an autobiography-cum-biography. The book contains pages from Khan’s own unfinished autobiography. Handwritten in Bengali,these give an insight into his emotional flare-ups and sensitive moments. There are also black-and-white photographs in the 128 pages as well as interviews with his disciples and family. “These manuscripts and photographs had been preserved by my father Dhayanesh Khan and my grandfather,sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan,who died recently. All the anecdotes have been told to me by my family members since I never got to see Boro Baba,” says the 35-year-old,an IT professional in Bangalore.

The book begins when Khan,as a 12-year-old boy from Shibpur (now in Bangladesh) runs away from home after being enamoured by the music of some sadhus. He follows them,living on alms and looking for a guru until he is finally appointed as a court musician in Maihar; the book trails him through the streets of Kolkata where he spent the last part of his life.

Lovers of classical music would find it interesting that the foreward is by Annapurna Devi,Khan’s reclusive daughter who was once married to Pt Ravi Shankar. Annapurana Devi,an acclaimed sitar and surbahar player,remains away from the public eye so it is a treat to read her thoughts on her father; “One day,a visitor came to see him while he was watering some plants outside the house. The visitor mistook him for a gardener and ordered him to inform Baba of his arrival. Baba quietly went inside and reappeared and introduced himself as Baba!”