Apart from the vocation of (formal and informal) teaching to which she remained devoted her entire life, Sadhana Bhattacharyya cultivated, not always without the usual familial and related difficulties though, her keen interest in art and culture, literature and most importantly, music. In this, she had her husband’s support who was equally invested in reading, writing, calligraphy, painting, sculpture and music. Music, in particular, meant the world to both. While she was not trained formally in it, her husband was (in Indian classical music).


Reviewed by:
By Meenakshi Prasad. With a Foreword by Late Pandit Birju Maharaj

The author has explored the relationship between psychology, aesthetics and pedagogy throughout the book. The relationship between the self and aesthetics according to her is a condition of stability and conformity where values of family and context are important. Humility plays a big role here. Her teacher Savita Devi told her that ‘the original tune and lyrics of a composition exist unaffected by time and space’.


Reviewed by: Partho Datta
By Satyasheel Deshpande

Is Deshpande’s musical thought antithetical to the above? Like Tembe, Deshpande too is critical of the scientific method of classifying and categorizing musical knowledge. For example, the mathematical discussions on the microtones (shruti) in music. But, unlike Tembe, Deshpande celebrates the analytical attitude of Maharashtrian musicians. He interprets the last segment of the Punjabi proverb as a belittling of the analytical efforts of the musicians in Maharashtra. In a nutshell, his musical thought may be summarized as the celebration of individuality-identity framed by and simultaneously made possible by the musical form and its elements.


Reviewed by: Urmila Bhirdikar
By Vipul Rikhi

However, the last few decades have witnessed an unprecedented interest in the words and philosophy of these medieval poets. Today, multiple Kabir yatras are held throughout the country, flocked mostly by an English-speaking urban crowd. They gather to listen to the folk voices singing Kabir. More importantly


Reviewed by: Dipanjali Deka
Edited by Ashok Vajpeyi and Piyush Daiya

This is significant for it gives us access to different vantage points for looking at the musician. For instance, many articles argue that his practice marks a radical departure from existing musicianship and a pathway towards something new. Ashok Vajpeyi calls this a reinvention () of tradition, while articles of Pandharinath Kolhapure, Shriram Sangoram and Chaitanya Kunte try to defend his experiments as interrogations within tradition.


Reviewed by: Anubhuti Sharma
By Terada Yoshitaka

Most rasikas of South Indian Classical music do not often grow up understanding the finer points of the relationship between Carnatic music and the various traditions it is born from or relates to. In this book the author takes us on a journey from an appreciation of the complexities of its tradition. The Nagaswaram has played an important part of all rituals, but Nagaswaram players were lower in the caste hierarchy and subject to all the taboos


Reviewed by: Aruna Roy