Requiem in Raga Janki [Hardcover] NEELUM SARAN GOUR by Neelum Saran Gour
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Janki Bai Illahabadi was one of the first recorded artists of India, an artist whose records can still be found and whose voice can still be heard. She was a courtesan, an Indian Classical singer with an extensive training in the field by great maestro Ustad Hassu Khan. Born to Shivbalak and Manki, a family of sweets sellers in Benaras, tragedy befell her family when her father left the house in search of his mistress. Her mother was then betrayed and duped by one of her friends and sold to a kotha in Allahabad. It was then that Janki was introduced to those dingy alleys of Allahabad where she could have easily faded into oblivion amidst the sea of unfortunate women like her. But that wasn’t meant to happen. For her mother recognised her talent and arranged for her to be mentored by the great master. The rigorous training bore fruit when she was invited to sing in a royal court. So enchanted was the Maharaja that she was lavished with riches along with a high praise. She then rose onto become one of the greatest singers of the time that was also witness to singers like Gauhar Jaan of Calcutta.

One of the famous anecdotes about her life (of which I was utterly unaware) is that she had received fifty-six (Chhappan) knife stabs while very young but had miraculously survived them. She then came to be known as Chhappan Chhuri Wali and slowly, over time, it acquired the meaning we are acquainted with today. Today in Hindi, the word is used to refer to a haughty woman.

Requiem in Raga Janki is a heavily fictionalised biography of the singer written by Neelum Saran Gour. The author is also from the city of Allahabad. In her attempt to tell the story of the once famous songstress, the author succeeds in making Janki Bai come out of dark alleys of obscurity and claim her long lost place of recognition. Gour not only explores her journey to becoming a famous Courtesan but she also, through her vivid imagination, tries to explore Janki as a woman fraught with anxieties about love, religion, relationships and fame. By telling her story, she gives her a voice, because voices like her are either forgotten sooner or are not accorded due reverence. And to forget these voices is akin to forgetting a past which is as much a part of our history as it is of our musical heritage. Gour’s work thus deserves a recognition which hasn’t apparently come its way yet.

To begin with, author’s depth of research - on Janki, on the time she lived in, the customs and social mores, on the history of classical singers and on the knowledge of Ragas, is apparent in her writing. Add to it her flawless writing, attention to detail, an evident grip on the vernacular, lucid and almost poetic prose and what we have is a book that would someday be certainly known as a classic in Indian writing in English.

In the very well crafted narration, we not only become privy to the real incidents in Janki’s life, her journey to fame but also to the gifted poetess that she was. Here Janki’s conversations with famous poet Akbar Illahbadi, with whom she shared a good rapport in her lifetime, glitter with beautiful couplets. It is well mentioning that though Janki’s couplets are mainly taken from her work “Diwan-e-Janki”, the couplets attributed to poet Akbar here are composed by the author herself. And if you get to read this work, which I think you should, you would be mesmerised by the sheer brilliance of her writing.

This book has been one of my best reads of 2019 and I would recommend it to everyone who wishes to explore a part of our history through the life a singer who carved her own destiny in times when women were subjugated and confined to roles given by society.


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