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Ae Mohabbat... Reminiscing
Begum Akhtar
Actually, this engaging biography by the Begum’s treasured disciple, Professor Rita Ganguly with Jyoti Sabharwal, goes beyond the life of Begum and becomes a vital socio-historical document of times gone by. To begin with, the story of the metamorphosis of Akhtari Bai Faizabadi into Begum Akhtar is interwoven with many a momentous moments of Indian classical music world. So you have anecdotes related to Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan’s sudden foray into singing, shehnaai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan taking to stage for the very first time and the arrival of the hitherto-forbidden harmonium in Hindustani shashtriya gayan. Of course, the spotlight rests on Begum, actually Akhtari Bai and her many secrets, including her illegitimate daughter who was allegedly passed off as her sister when Begum was alive. Rita Ganguly effectively slips into the life of Begum Akhtar—showing the transition of pre-independence feudal era into modern society—and becomes one with her. The narrative threatens to turn salacious as skeletons and affaires d’amour tumble out. Despite no-holds-barred revelations, the limits of decency are not transgressed. In the process, the enigma that Begum, the enchantress, was unravels. Simultaneously the aura of yesteryears, of nawabs and kheen khawabs; of courtesans and tawaifs; of music, musicians and its patrons unfolds. The biggest strength of the book. however, is that it is no fawning ode of a disciple to her guru. So Rita’s tone, albeit full of admiration and empathy, is not overtly reverential. In the part, Reliving an Era, one gets to know Rita as much if not more than the Begum. Undisputedly Rita is an exceptionally gifted multifaceted woman but self-eulogising instances (the same recur again in the final chapter) could have been worded differently, if not avoided. Her well-deserved achievements can certainly wait for an autobiography. Actually Rita, who has already written the biography of Ustaad Bismillah Khan, besides many more books, does display a felicity for both story telling and critical analysis coupled with a keen eye of a researcher. Anyway, many a teacher-taught interface encapsulated herein reinforces how giving a guru the Begum was, though she often egged her disciples to excel through provocation. An annoying feature of the book is huge passages in Hindi, which are duly translated in English. These inhibit the flow of the narrative. Certainly one liners like Ya Allah ab kya hoga which incidentally runs like a feverish refrain in the book poignantly underline the melancholy of Begum whose loneliness was fuelled by absence of father and enhanced by the loss of twin sister and later of seven unborn children. Thus emerges Begum Akhtar the mortal, besieged by many human foibles like mercurial temperament. Why the mortal transformed into immortal voice is dealt with in a lucid and critical assessment of Begum’s music. The chapter Benign Spell of Begum’s Music may be of keener interest to connoisseurs rather than the uninitiated. However, die-hard aficionados of Begum would love to comprehend what made her voice a cut above the rest. Rita tells us that Begum, who didn’t endorse exhibitionism of technique was technically sound. Rather she was a pioneer who surpassed the grammar of music and infused meaning and feeling in each word she sang. So the Begum’s Saga Lives on. In this concluding section Rita lists tributes paid by other greats like renowned sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar and her own endeavours to keep Begum’s legacy alive. She also reasons why this story, ‘despite painful details’, must be told. To which it must be added, this story must be read, for more reasons than one. How often do you get a chance to revisit an era where the likes of such musical legend lived, reigned, enraptured and passed unto eternity? The book emphatically reminds us that a woman of immeasurable talent, Begum Akhtar aptly epitomised the sentiments of Jigar Mordabadi—Humko mita sakey yeh zamane mein dum nahi hum se zamana khud hai zamane se hum nahi. (Time doesn’t have the nerve to wipe me out. Time owes its existence to me. I don’t owe my existence to time).
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BEHIND every success
story, lies the tale of trial and tribulations, of joys and sorrows, of
pain and passion. The legendary singer Begum Akhtar’s meteoric rise as
Mallika-e-Ghazal, a voice that cast a grip on the nation
then and now, has been so too. Only, as Kaifi Azmi wrote: Bas ek
jhizhak hai yeh hale-e-dil sunane mein, ke tera zikr bhi aayega is
fasane mein... when her afsaana is retold obviously many
names and tales crop up.