Going On Record

It was an evening of music and nostalgia as Sampath explored the lives of these Indian women who gave the industry its first gramophone records. “It was the ‘immoral’ women like tawaifs and devdasis who first recorded music on it,” said Sampath. Gauhar Jaan and Mansa Jaan were courtesans whereas Sundara bai from Pune was the daughter of a contractor. “Gauhar Jaan was an American Christian who later converted to Islam. She was a naturally gifted musician who grabbed the opportunity that came with the advent of gramophones and recording technology in India. Gauhar Jaan cut almost 600 records in her career,” says Sampath who has been a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin where he studied the early gramophone recordings of Indian music.

A part of his talk traced the ‘anti nautch campaign’ prevalent in the early twentieth century. “It was during our freedom struggle when music,dance and culture became representatives of national identity. Men began to sanitise several forms of art by breaking their association with ‘immoral’ women. It was during this time that music began to be viewed as something ‘respectable’,” explains Sampath. This ultimately led to the disappearance of a legacy – “The women who were associated with music and recording could not be rehabilitated. Gauhar Jaan quit music and disappeared without any trace. She left a void,” Sampath says.

Sampath’s research in Berlin focussed on the sophistication and knowledge of these women. “It is wrong to consider women who were into performing arts as less educated. They lived in the kothas but were educated enough to teach etiquette and manners to the zamindars. They composed songs and poetry as well,” explains Sampath.

The author also spoke at length about recording superstar Sundara bai. “She was trained in music under Bal Gandharva and later emerged as a legendary vocalist of Marathi films. Her films Manush and Ekaj Pyala sold record breaking copies back then,” he says. But,even Sundara bai was a victim of the supposed sanitisation of music. “She lived through the whole gramophone era and saw success. Yet,at the end of her life,she died a loner,” he says.