Gauhar Jaan (1873-1930), the stunningly pretty, feisty, colourful, melodious soul of the famed mehfils of Imperial India came back to her Calcutta. Young author Vikram Sampath brought her back to life in his sensitively written book My Name is Gauhar Jaan! The Life and Times of a Musician that was released at New Delhi in April by Mr Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India and launched in Bangalore by eminent vocalist Pandit Jasraj. Rupa & Co, the publishers, brought Gauhar Jaan back home in Kolkata by presenting a wonderfully organised book-launch at the Taj Bengal on 3 May.

Padmabhushan Vidushi Girija Devi, the doyenne of Benaras Gharana’s poorab-ang thumri and Mr Harshvardhan Neotia, whose mother is a disciple of Girija Devi were invited as the guests of honour but they were actually members of the classical gharana Gauhar Jaan belonged to. There were many renowned musicians and music-lovers present in the audience including Purnima Chaudhury, another feted member of Benaras gharana, sitar exponent Jaya Biswas and the son of Bhupendranath Ghosh of Pathuriaghata Rajbari who patronised Gauhar Jaan. Also was present a young thespian dressed-up as Gauhar Jaan!

Her records with three-minute renditions created the desired ambience. Each record ends with her confident and seductive announcement My name is Gauhar Jaan with a high pitched twisting tone while pronouncing Jaan. This amply justified the title of the book which comes at the price of Rs 595/- with an audio CD that contains select original soundtrack of her music which have been recorded over different time-spans of her illustrious career and spanning various genres like khayal, bhajan, thumri, dadra, ghazal etc. She had recorded 600 songs and a few Tagore songs as well!

The evening climaxed when Poonam Singh read out select pieces from the book. Each word describing the character of the enigmatic enchantress of yore throbbed with its intrinsic emotion. It was sheer magic. This way, having everything in their respective place, holding the fingers of Girija Devi, the veteran of her gharana, Gauhar Jaan entered the city of joy, made her presence felt throughout the book-launch function and re-ignited many question like what compelled Kalkattewali Gauhar Jaan to leave her beloved city in the first place? It was Calcutta where she mesmerised her fans and opponents alike with her regal beauty, captivating persona and mellifluous voice; it was here that she got the opportunity that came with the advent of recording technology and emerged as the first Indian classical vocalist to record her music with the Gramophone Company that came to India from the United Kingdom in the pre-electric era of 1902. Why did she migrate to Mysore towards the end of her life?

To answer these there are innumerable anecdotes, myths and folklores ~ some of which are recorded, some apocryphal. This book traces the story of her life through all these while analysing the socio-cultural background of the people and culture of that era. The evolution of the recording history in India and its impact on Indian music, theatre and social life is also described at great length.

For all this Vikram Sampath had to do extensive research. In fact, while doing research for his first book Splendors of Royal Mysore: the untold story of the Wodeyars, he stumbled on some interesting facts about Gauhar Jaan and got hooked. Old Bengali, Hindi and Urdu literature of those times, court papers from Kolkata, newspaper archives of those days, the memoirs of Gaisberg, the recording engineer, and the recollections of elders, music-loving record collectors helped him to egg on. A serious student of Carnatic classical vocal Vikram finds subjects related to history, arts and culture fascinating though he is an Electronics Engineer, did his Masters in Mathematics (BITS Pilani) and also MBA in Finance and works in a Bangalore-based software company as a Project Manager.

His meticulous research and attention to minutest details, therefore, did not come as a surprise. But nothing comes without a scope for betterment. Girija Devi advised that he should find out more carefully about the grooming of Gauhar Jaan in Benaras. Musicologist Anindya Banerjee pointed out that two singers Shashimukhi and Phanibala had recorded their music even before Gauhar Jaan. Paled by her charisma all faded out while she continues to live on!