Title:
A life in three octaves
Subtitle:
The musical journey of Gangubai Hangal
Author:
Deepa Ganesh
Publisher:
Three Essays Collective, Gurgaon,
First
edition: 2014
Pages:
220.
Price: Hard Cover: Rs. 600
This
biographical work on the towering Hindustani vocalist, Gangubai Hangal
(1913-2009), is based on a series of visits the author made to the diva’s home,
and extensive interviews with people close to her subject. The author’s
discovery of this extraordinary personality spans a period of 4 years
(2005-2009).
The book traces
the emergence of Northern Karnataka as a powerhouse of Hindustani classical
music during the colonial period. Substantial credit for it goes to the Wodeyar
princes of Mysore, who were patrons to the finest musicians of the Carnatic and
Hindustani traditions alike. Hubli, Dharwad and Belgaum were natural stop-overs
for Hindustani musicians travelling between their homes and the Mysore Court. This
led to an exchange of musical ideas between Hindustani and Carnatic musicians
of the region.
From the late 19th
century, the bi-lingual region, (Kannada + Marathi) enthusiastically patronized
Marathi theater, which featured some of the finest Hindustani musicians of the
era. From the dawn of the 20th century, the gramophone record made the
finest Hindustani musicians – from within and outside regional theater – household
names in Northern Karnataka. Simultaneously, the missionary work of Bhatkhande
and Vishnu Digambar – both from Maharashtra -- had begun to democratize the
musical culture. The prestige of
Hindustani music shot up immensely in the region, as religious leaders attached
to the Lingayat monasteries became proficient in Hindustani music, and started
imparting training to young aspirants. This
configuration of forces enabled the emergence of Gangubai as a significant
musical persona.
The Kirana
gharana founder, Abdul Kareem Khan, visited Hubli often, became an admirer of
Gangubai’s mother, Ambabai, a Carnatic musician, and allowed his own music to
be influenced by her musicianship. Young Gangubai was taught Carnatic music at
home, but succumbed to the attraction of Hindustani music, which played from
the gramophones of every neighborhood tea stall. After an aborted apprenticeship with
Krishnamacharya, a local Hindustani vocalist, Gangubai ended up as a disciple
of Rambhau Kundgolkar (Sawai Gandharva) from nearby Kundgol, the foremost disciple
of the Kirana gharana founder, Abdul Kareem Khan.
The book deals adequately
with Gangubai’s family and social circumstance. Her mother, Ambabai, was a
Carnatic vocalist nurtured in the Devadasi tradition. She was greatly respected
for her musicianship, but ostracized socially for her lower-caste birth and her
profession. According to the Devadasi tradition, Ambabai became the subordinate
(non co-habiting) wife of an upper-caste landlord, and headed a matriarchal
family, dependent on her earnings as a musician. For Gangubai, her father,
Chikurao Nadiger, represented an occasional and irrelevant presence during her
mother’s lifetime. Ambabai died while Gangubai was still in her teens.
Gangubai became the breadwinner of the family,
which included her two maternal uncles, and their growing families. Her uncles’
contribution to the household expenses was unstable. At its peak, her family of
dependents numbered 20. Gangubai herself accepted the role of a subordinate
wife to Gururaj Kaulgi, a Brahmin widower, who gave Gangubai three children and
a host of financial problems arising from his incompetence as a breadwinner. For
Gangubai, starvation was the only alternative to success as a musician. The
greatness came because the survival anxiety never left her.
Deepa Ganesh’
work details painstakingly the role of her maternal uncle, Ramanna, in
preparing Gangubai for her career in music with a fatherly presence,
substantially replacing her mother, Ambabai as the anchor of her life. Ramanna
used the good offices of a family friend, Dattopant Desai, to place Gangubai
under the apprenticeship of Rambhau Kundgolkar, and acted as her protector and
companion on her daily trips from Hubli to Kundgol for her tuitions. Rambhau
was the principal disciple of Abdul Kareem Khan, who had enriched his musical
vision by studying with several other maestros from other lineages.
As a
result, he had carved out an illustrious career as a singer-actor in regional
theater. After his withdrawal from the nomadic life of the theater, he became
available as a Guru. Because of Gangubai’s devotion to him, and fastidious
compliance with his teaching, she soon became his favorite disciple. He kept a
hawk’s eye on her commercial recordings, and radio broadcasts for compliance
with his training. Her musicianship flowered under his demanding care. The bond
of devotion between the Guru and disciple was such that Gangubai brought
Rambhau to her own home along with his wife and cared for him for three years
after his paralytic stroke. In return, even during his last days, even as he
was sinking, Rambhau insisted on teaching Gangubai newer Raga-s and
compositions.
Gangubai’s
professional career was virtually launched in the electronic media. By the
1930s, the radio and the gramophone record were fast growing in reach and
popularity, and were hungry for talent. On these platforms, starting in 1936, Gangubai
was able to build a national reputation as a formidable musician. Soon after
her professional debut, she had a serious problem with her throat. The surgery
deprived her voice of its feminity and agility. She was left with a masculine
voice of limited maneuverability and range. (The title of the book, in this
context, is ironic) What ensued was an intense struggle to re-invent her
repertoire and her approach to music. She transformed this setback into a
unique musical asset, and continued to acquire a following.
She enjoyed
immense stature on the concert circuit between 1950 and 1970, but continued to
perform ,as her vitality levels would permit, until a few years before the end
came. The shower of recognition and awards had begun as early as 1948, and grew
into a torrent. This included honorary Doctorates from several Universities,
the fellowships of performing arts academies, nominations to houses of state
and central legislatures, and the Padma awards. As her performing career waned,
Gangubai, a well-informed and well-read lady, allowed herself to evolve into a
public personality, heard with respect on social issues for her wisdom and
simplicity of demeanor.
Besides her
uncle and her Guru, the two anchors of her life after her mother’s demise, the
book deals appropriately with some other special relationships Gangubai
developed during her life. During her
apprenticeship with Rambhau, she developed a warm fraternal relationship with
Bhimsen Joshi, a few years her junior. Two of her seniors in the profession,
Kesarbai Kerkar, and Hirabai Barodekar, developed great affection for Gangubai,
and furthered he career. Mallikarjun Mansoor, a childhood friend, remained a
close friend of her family throughout.
As her career blossomed, she developed a
personal friendship with Mrs. Sushila Ambike, and Professor of Sanskrit in
Delhi University, and earned the admiration of Mr. HY Sharda Prasad, the media
advisor to Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The famous Kannada poet, DR Bendre, who was once
her teacher in school, became her close friend and admirer, giving her access
to a presence in the social and political life of Northern Karnataka.
The author
presents an elaborate picture of Gangubai’s rootedness to her native Dharwad,
to her responsibilities as the head of her household, to her family and to the
kitchen as the object of her lifelong struggle for economic security and the
vehicle for her hospitality. (Appropriately, the book even ends with two of her
favourite recipes). Gangubai accepted all the financial strains of her domestic
responsibilities, and denied herself comforts
and luxuries of all kinds in order to fulfil them. Her only relationship that
the author rightly places under a microscope is the one with her daughter
Krishna.
Krishna was
Gangubai’s first child, born to her when she was only 16. She was never
formally trained in music. But, she had a melodious and agile voice, an exceptional
musical mind, and a natural flair. In addition, she was an extremely
well-organised person. Krishna speedily became Gangubai’s concert planner, and
manager. Her musical role began as an accompanist, but grew into that of a
partner, and as Gangubai’s vitality levels diminished, ended finally as lead
singer. Gangubai evidently found it convenient to deny Krishna her own life,
and found arguments to justify her convenience. Krishna’s marriage was never
considered on the grounds that her constitution was too weak for child-bearing.
Independent concert engagements for Krishna were blocked because her solo
concerts would bring in a much lower fee than a joint concert. The author believes that Gangubai feared the
loneliness that would ensue Krishna’s independence. But, as luck would have it,
Krishna succumbed to cancer in her 74th year, leaving Gangubai, then
90, to face a lonely end.
The author recognizes
that Gangubai’s extra-musical persona is
more firmly etched in the public mind than her musicianship. There is some
merit in the author’s suggestion that Gangubai herself may have shaped this
phenomenon by allowing her humble beginnings and her struggles to dominate
public attention. The purpose of so doing
-- though perhaps unconscious – would have been to highlight the
magnitude of her accomplishments.
The
result was that while her formidable musicianship is acknowledged, its
distinctiveness has remained largely undocumented. All that is remembered of
her music is her androgynous voice, austere musical vision, soulful delivery,
deploying a deliberate, unhurried approach to performance. The author attempts to partly enlarge the
assessment of her musicality by comparing it to that of her leading
contemporaries, especially those of the Kirana tradition. This reviewer
believes that this task remains yet to be done satisfactorily, and deserves a
survey of several senior musicians who had heard Gangubai in her prime.
The details this
work provides on Gangubai’s social and economic circumstance, and her grooming under Rambhau Kundgolkar,
have been familiar for long to serious music lovers, especially of the 60+
generation. The author has done well to present these in broad brush strokes
rather than the excruciating detail that has appeared earlier elsewhere. What
makes this work a comprehensive word picture of a towering personality is the
author’s exploration of her life beyond the known. The essential tenor of this biographocal work – and perhaps also its inspiration -- is adulatory, though the author’s
scrutiny of Gangubai’s relationship with Krishna is objective enough to avert
the charge of gaga journalism.
The work does occasionally drift towards
journalistic “editorializing”, with a stance akin to that of a social
scientist. This may irk experienced readers of biographical literature. The
book also reveals a feminist streak, which appears contextually unwarranted,
except for the incidental reality that this is a woman writer’s work on a lady
musician.
The book exposes
some lapses at the Editorial Desk. For instance, Gangubai’s son is mentioned
variously as “Babu” and “Babanna”. Her daughter-in-law is referred to variously
as “Lalitha” and “Lalithakka”. Likewise, Ustad Abdul Kareem Khan is referred to
as “Abdul Kareem Khan”, “Kareem Khan”, and “Abdul Kareem Khan Saab”. The
standardization of nomenclatures would have greatly helped readers unfamiliar
with culture-specific variations. While Kannada words mostly carry translations
in parentheses, there are several cases of usage unaccompanied by translations.
The occasional recourse to musicologically sensitive words may make the serious
reader wince. He will, for instance, wonder what the terms “purity of a note”
or the “purity of music” are intended to connote. The larger issue is whether the lay reader
will understand any better. The connotation of such phrases is seldom made
transparent by the context in which they are used.
The
author’s purpose was to “rediscover a woman who occupied a niche in musical
folklore”. The author admits to the
limitations of her enquiry arising from the advanced age of her subject and
fragility of her recall. Nevertheless, the author’s purpose stands largely
fulfilled. The book is a welcome addition to the reservoir of biographical
literature on towering 20th century musicians. Its timing ensures
that it will attract a readership of young music lovers who may know Gangubai
through her recordings, but remember her either as everybody’s idea of a
Grandmother, or as the Grand Old Lady of Northern Karnataka.
Reviewer: Deepak Raja
Review published in THE BOOK REVIEW
Answer: No.
Baba played Sarod , Sursingar, violin and several other
instruments. 
