Subha Mudgal

Looking for Miss Sargam by Shubha Mudgal ; Published by Speaking Tiger ; Pages 205 ; Price Rs.499/-

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The author of the book under review Shubha

Mudgal lives in Delhi with her husband

Aneesh Pradhan, a renowned Tabla player.

She has been a student of Thumri -- a blend of Indian classical music and folk narratives for almost four decades now. She commenced her musical career not as a student of vocal music, but as a student of Kathak which is also "inextricably linked with the art of Thumri.".

Her parents encouraged her to "attend recitals and listen carefully".

Mudgal declares,"My stories draw inspiration from the world of Indian music, which is a space I have inhabited and explored all through my life,"

A master of several forms of classical music, with Thumri and Khayal among her favourites, Mudgal retains an exuberance, a talent for experimentation and collaborations that transcend limits. This has ensured her great followers—young and old. Her latest most recent collaboration is an Indo-Australian album Bridge of Dreams, composed and performed with husband and tabla player Aneesh Pradhan, saxophonist Sandy Evans, Sirens Big Band, harmonium player Sudhir Nayak and tabla player Bobby Singh.

Mudgal’s subjects in her maiden book are from the musical world : its eccentricities, rivalries, the obsession with artistic integrity coexisting with the craze for awards.

The charlatans adopt many swaroopas. A few samples-- There is the “successful businessman from Delhi” who pronounces that “actually my true love is Hindustani classical music”; the EDM duo who thanks everyone (including their cats Bijli and Chamki) in the credits to their albums but the one man who makes their compositions work; the eminence grise who ‘reigned supreme in the world of Hindustani classical music” and “learnt early in his career that an artist desirous of popular and abiding success should never have political opinions, and should cultivate the powerful no matter which political party or business empire they belonged to”, the table player who arranges US tours that are actually a series of performances at the homes of well-meaning NRIs.

This is Mudgal’s literary first venture into the world of short stories. She confesses “ I have grown more used to the stage than to writing,” . The seven stories based on her experiences are extremely dexterously handled and have a rare literary beauty and charm.

Mudgal’s chance encounter writing “Aman Bol” for theatre director Sunil Shanbag’s production, Stories in a Song, is where it all began for her. “Since 2009, it has been performed over 100 times and stood the test of time. I thought I could follow it up with more nuanced stories.”

She has turned the spotlight on issues such as ill-treatment of classical musicians and their instruments, blatant copyright infringement and a dismal government budget for arts and culture. These themes are explored with consummate ability in Looking for Miss Sargam. We are privy to a world which is absolutely realistic ---plus with the added advantage of her witty, caustic comments on how the media, music labels and nationalists operate. Her characters face tough and troublesome situations, but “I have tried to make light of the situation and laugh at the not-so-silver lining,”

The stories draw the reader into the travails of our musicians . To have a bird’s eye-view in the first story, “Aman Bol’ we have the usual bringing of star singers from both Pakistan and India together for a peace offering concert. The twist is the petty backstage drama that is almost overwhelming. It looms like a dark cloud that hovers over the concert. In ‘Foreign Returned’, there is a Pune-based classical singer’s much-awaited first trip overseas. But that’s scuttled even before she can unpack her bags and finds herself where it all began—back home. ‘Taan Kaptaan’ is set in a small town where a second generation musician finds himself caught up in the glittering, gossamer web of a reality show which is a scam. In one story Mudgal deals with the drama of winning a Padma Award. Mudgal is expansive about the deep undercurrents that sway the music world, the stormy route to musical heights.

None of the seven stories has a conventional ending. Mudgal deftly portrays the power equations in this music industry, a melange of ambition, desires, struggles and near successes.

Who is the enigmatic Miss Sargam who flits in and out of the tales, but is never makes an appearance . “It was my publisher, Ravi Singh, who suggested we base the title on this character who is a quintessential artist reinventing herself. Maybe she will get another story, another time,” says Mudgal. Miss Sargam is a bright spark who sets her own standards in the humdrum of daily music business. The mysterious, spunky singer inhabits many stories and spaces, much like the author herself. In the Man Who Made Stars Ramani asks Manjusha, “You must have heard of Miss Sargam – she was a pop star and she was a classical star, you know that... And who gave Miss Sargam her biggest film hits? Yours truly. She was talented, I made her sexy.”

Shubha Mudgal’s sketches inner lives laying bare the hypocrisy, egotism, wilful blindness and manipulations of obsessive artists.

Looking for Miss Sargam values commerce over pure art, and is intent on besmirching the single-mindedness of purpose of committed artists with those greedy for pelf.

The book is at once hilarious, entertaining and makes the reader think. The singer is as powerful a writer as she is an eloquent singer. In this, her debut work of fiction, one of India’s finest and most original musicians has produced a sparkling collection—utterly distinctive, hugely entertaining and funny beyond belief.

Mudgal’s creations are trapped in tight corners but the singer offers no solutions. These seven stories have obviously been crafted from anecdotes that have been a part of the author’s orbit as an accomplished Indian classical singer.

P P Ramachandran.

12/01/2020.