Vikram Sampath - My Name Is Gauhar Jaan: The Life and Times of a Musician

My Name
is
Gauhar Jaan

The life & times of a musician

For my loving parents, the pillars of my strength, without
whom I wouldnt be what I am today!

Contents

Bakshega har gunaah woh isyaan sha aar ka; Behad hai reham bandon pe parvardigaar ka.

Tar daamani se apni nahin gham mujhe zara; Behar-e-karam hai josh pe aamarzagaar ka.

Hai khiiffathe gunaah se meezaan mili hui; Palla giraan na hoga mere aitbaar ka.

Dekha jise woh shaagile gufoor hai; Nagma yahi chaman mein suna hai hazaar ka.

Malka hai jiske vird-e-zabaan naam-e-kibriya; Sadma na hoga usko lahad ke fishaar ka.

Badi Malka Jaan, MAKHZAN-E-ULFAT-E-MALLIKA

Every sin of even a habitual offender like me will be forgiven; such is the infinite grace of the Protector of this Universe.

I am steeped in sin, committed all through my life, of which I am terribly ashamed. But my condition doesnt baffle me because I know that the ocean of Mercy that my Almighty is, my sins too will be washed away.

On the Day of Judgement, the odds would be placed heavily against me due to my sins; but my sincere repentance born out of disgust for my acts of omission will see me through, my faith in His mercy will not be belied.

The entire cosmos, which is a garden of His creation, sings His praise. And when the All-merciful Creator sees that all my life, despite my sins, I have always had his praise on my lips; he will pardon me for sure.

Malka has always chanted His name all her life; she is not the one who would be tortured in her grave when her acts of this world are judged!

I have gone through the authors work on Gauhar Jaan. The author has done in-depth research by means of travelling to various places to collect data on her life. This indeed is a difficult task accomplished. Reading the authors work on Gauhar Jaan gave me a lot of happiness. It is so interesting that I feel that any music lover who gets his or her hands on the book will read it through in one sitting. The authors endeavour is indeed very praiseworthy as this historical truth has been very well presented by him in the book.

As a musician, I myself wasnt aware about most of the facts that the author has presented in his book about Gauhar Jaan and her era. Although it is difficult to describe, the author has made an honest and sincere attempt to take the readers a century back to the prevailing ceremonies of her era, her private life and her musical aspect.

After having seen the authors work I feel that now artists will have no need to worry, because enthusiastic music lovers and researchers like this author will revive the legendary musicians and their era by presenting them to the world from time to time for the benefit of mankind just as the author has done in the case of Gauhar Jaan. There is no doubt that what the author has portrayed about Gauhar Jaans era is true as I too have witnessed some aspects of the same for myself.

I would like to add a few things from my end. Whenever any artist loses his love then his or her music tends to blossom with more depth and emotions. Artists should consider such situations in their life as a blessing in disguise by God. Similarly in Gauhar Jaans case she is still remembered for her soulful music. As a matter of fact, thumris written by Gauhar Jaan like Kaise Yeh Dhoom Machayi ...Arrey Kanhaiya Re as well as thumris sung by her like Jiyaa Mein Laagi Aaan Baan are still sung today by many across India. However, in most cases the singers arent aware that they are singing her compositions. Now with the authors initiative the world will recognize the thumris written by Gauhar Jaan. I too realised the same on reading the authors book.

In every era there were great musicians who had their own special travel mode. Gauhar Jaan was one of them. For instance, during the 1930-40s, other than Ustad Faiyaz Khan Saheb from Baroda no other musician had a two wheeler (a taanga). As Gauhar Jaan was exceptionally great in her time she used to commute in a Victoria buggy for which she even paid a fine.

By reading this book one thing that I understand is that Gauhar Jaan was certainly blessed with beauty and great musical talent and any artist who is blessed with the two is looked upon as an artist par excellence just like Gauhar Jaan, Zohra Bai and Kesarbai Kerkar to name a few.

Pandit Jasraj

My introduction to Gauhar Jaan came by way of my father, Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan Saheb, who was a contemporary of hers. Gauhar Jaan was a legend even in her own life time and commanded a huge amount of respect in the music circles of the time. Trained as a baiji from an early age in Varanasi, then a centre for arts and culture, she soon settled and made a name for herself in Calcutta, known for its patronage of the arts.

Gauhar Jaan came to the limelight at a very significant moment in music history, with the invention of the gramophone record. When the science of recording was first made available it was not easily accepted by the great stalwarts of music at the time, who had grave doubts about the purity and sanctity of the music if it could be reproduced note for note at any time of ones choosing. It simply went against the grain. My own father was one of this school who could never come to terms with the possibility of his music being played out of context through a recording.

Gauhar Jaan, however, had no such reservations, and recognizing the potential of the gramophone went on to become one of the most prolific recorders of that time. She particularly excelled in, and perfected the art of condensing the essence of a thumri into the three minutes that the records could play at the time. The impact on Hindustani music must be phenomenal since she would have immortalized the musical styles of the many gharanas she learnt, and passed them on to many future generations of aspiring musicians and connoisseurs.

It is indeed a pleasure to find a young, dedicated writer like Vikram Sampath to research and resurrect for us, so to speak, the colourful life of one of the most successful and historically important singers of this century. It is most creditable that he researches and writes from his own heart with no motive other than to share with his readers his passion for history and music. May he go on to write many more such books for us!

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

What can one say about the famous musical personality Gauhar Jaan! So much has been saidso many anecdotes about her defiant nature and so many of her records convey a lot about how unique, versatile and independent minded this great artiste was.

Hence the brave effort of Shri Vikram Sampath is indeed commendable.

The book on Gauhar Jaan, written in a lucid and incisive manner, indicates the strenuous efforts, meticulous care and thorough study that Shri Vikram Sampath has made to make the book both interesting and authentic.

I am sure the book will be well-received by many music lovers with keen interest. The insight gained would add to the knowledge that we have about the great masters, especially the great women musicians of our rich cultural past.

Pandit Arvind Parikh

THE JOURNEY

The name Gauhar Jaan first caught my attention when I was sifting through the musty, yet meticulously catalogued and maintained archives of the Mysore Palace, in the course of the research of my book