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The',Home-Coming of Gauharjaan

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The',Home-Coming of Gauharjaan " The',home-coming of C "'tJ "'tJ OJ OJ C M- UQ C'" (1) (1) .. -n. Z OJ ~ 0 M- OJ .. GauharJaan '< 0-. BQncrj:e -()\. :J II Meena various genres like khayal. bhajm, thutnti; dadra, -. Kingdom in the pre-electric era of 1902 Why did 00 ghazal etc. She had recorded 600 songs and a few she migrate to Mysore towards the end of her life? ..• ~ GA UHAR Jaan (187)-19301 the s~nningly Tagore songsas welll • zr pretty, feisty, colourful, melodioussoulof the famed To answer these there are .innumerable anecdotes, N (1) The evening climaxed when Poonam Singh read myths and folklores - some of which are recorded; mehfilsof Imperial India came back to her Calcutta 0 out selectpieces from the book.Each word describ- some apocryphal This book traces the story of her J;a Young author Vikram Sampath brought her back to ing the character of the enigmatic enchantress. of -. life through aU these while analysing the soeio-cul- 0 life in his sensitively written book My Name is OJ yore throbbed with its intrinsicemotion It was sheer tural background of the people and culture of that M- Gauhar Jaan! The Life and Times of a (1) Musician that was released at New Delhi in era. The evolution of the recording hi5tory in India and its impact on Indian music. the- April by Mr Hamid Ansari, the Vice atre and social life is also described at great '"3 President of India and launched in length. OJ Bangalore by eminent vocalistPandit Jasraj. :J Rupa & Co, the publishers,brought Gauhar For aU this Vikram Sampath had to do extensive research. In fact, while doing Jaan back home in Kolkata by presenting a wonderfuUy organised book-launch at the research for his first book Splendors of Taj Bengal on 3 May. Royal Mysore: the untold story of the Padmabhushan Vidushi Girija Devi, the WodeyaIS, he stumbled on som!?interesting doyenne of Benaras Gharanas poorab-ang facts about Gauhar Jaan and got hooked. Old Bengali, Hindi and Urdu literature of thumri and Mr Harshvardhan Neotia, whose mother is a disciple of Girija Devi those times, court papers from Kolkata, were invited as the guests of honour but newspaper archives of those days, the memoirs of Gaisberg, the recording engi- they were actually members of the classical gharana Gauhar Jaan belonged to. There neer, and the recollectionsof elders, music- were many renowned musicians and music- loving record collectors helped him to egg lovers present in the audience including on. A serious student of Carnatic classical Pumima Chaudhury, another feted rnem- vocal Vikram finds subjects related to his- tory, arts and culture fascinating though he ber of Benaras gharana, sitar exponent Jaya Biswas magic. This way, having everything in their respec- is an Electronics Engineer, did his Masters in and the son of Bhupendranath Ghosh of·· tive place,holding the fingers of Girija Devi, the vet- Mathematics (BITS Pilani) and also MBA in Pathuriaghata Rajbari who patronised Gauhar Jaan. eran of her gharana, Gauhar Jaan entered the city of Finance and works in a Bangalore-based software Also was present a young thespian dressed-up as joy, made her presence felt throughout the book- company as a Project Manager. Gauhar Jaanl launch function and re-ignited many question like His meticulous research and attention to minutest Her records with three-minute renditions created what compelled Kalkattewali Gauhar Jaan to leave details, therefore, did not come as a surprise. But the desiredambience.Each record ends with her con- her beloved city in the first place? was Calcutta !t nothing comes without a scope for betterment fident and seductive announcement My name is where she mesmerised her fans and opponents alike Girija Devi advised that he should find out more Gauhar Jaan with a high pitched twisting tone while with her regal beauty, captivating persona and mel- carefully about the grooming of Gauhar Jaan in pronouncing Jaan. This amply justified the title of lifluous voice;it was here that she got the opportu- Benaras MusicologistAnindya Banerjee pointed out the book which comes at the price of Rs 595/- with nity that came with the advent of recording tech- that two singers Shashirnukhi and Phanibala had an audio CD that contains selectoriginalsoundtrack .nology and emerged as the first Indian classical recorded their mlliic even before Gauhar Jaan,Paled of ber music which have been recorded over differ- vocalist to record her music with the Gramophone by her charisma all faded out while she continues to ent time-spansof her illustriouscareer and spanning Company that came to India from the United live on!.
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