Raga'n Josh : Stories from a Musical Life

DETAILS : 

• Author : Sheila Dhar
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Orient Blackswan 
  
• Publication date : 1 January 2017
  
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
  
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 412 pages
  
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8178244632
  
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 9788178244631

ABOUT THE BOOK 

Raga’n Josh: Stories from a Musical Life is a sparkling collection of essays, anecdotes, and memoirs that captures the eccentric, divine, and often hilarious world of Indian Classical music. Sheila Dhar, who grew up in a prominent Kayastha family in Delhi, provides a rare "insider-outsider" perspective—she was a trained singer and a devoted fan, but she also possessed the sharp wit of a social satirist.

The book is celebrated for demystifying the "high-brow" world of Gharanas (musical lineages) and maestros. Dhar writes about legendary figures like Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Begum Akhtar, and Kesarbai Kerkar not as distant icons, but as complex human beings with quirks, egos, and immense artistic integrity.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Sheila Dhar (1929–2001) was a unique figure in Indian letters. A trained vocalist of the Kirana Gharana, she was the daughter of the famous Mathur family of Delhi and married the prominent economist P.N. Dhar. Her writing is characterized by "Rabelaisian" humor and a deep, unsentimental love for music. She had an uncanny ear for dialogue and a sharp eye for the changing social structures of post-independence India.