Begum Akhtar The story of my Ammi
By Shanti Hiranand
Viva Books, India
ISBN 8130901722
170pp. Rs1,295
Reviewed by Amber Darr
This book on Begum Akhtar's life was an unlikely discovery. Being a firm believer in the adage that 'life is stranger than fiction' I was scanning the shelves of the Biography section at a renowned bookstore in Islamabad. This slim volume drew my attention because of its unlikely title and I purchased the book out of curiosity, both for the author — Shanti Hiranand — who despite her obviously Hindu name referred to a Muslim woman as her 'Ammi', as well as for the subject — Begum Akhtar — whose picture on the cover jacket had already piqued my interest. I had no reason to suspect at that time that I stood on the threshold of discovering one of the greatest legends of Indian classical vocal music.
Shanti Hiranand's account of Begum Akhtar's life does not follow a chronological order and is often marred by a circular narrative and the inevitable repetition. Set against the cultural backdrop of Lucknow and the traditions of guru and shishya, it is as much a document of Shanti Hiranand's life with Begum Akhtar as it is of Begum Akhtar herself. The book does provide important biographical details about Begum Akhtar's life. She was born circa 1914 and died in 1974. She had achieved legendary status in her own lifetime, and was regarded as an unparalleled pioneer in the field of Indian light classical music. Her greatest achievement was the popularisation of traditional form of thumri and ghazal singing in India and abroad. The Government of India posthumously awarded her two of the country's top honours Padma Shri in 1968 and Padma Bhushan in 1975.
The circumstances of Begum Akhtar's early life are touched upon fleetingly. Shanti Hiranand informs us that Begum Akhtar, known in her early years as Akhtari Bai Faizabadi, was the daughter of Syed Asghar Hussain, a civil judge in Lucknow and his second wife Mushtri Begum who came from a family of professional singers. Begum Akhtar's paternal family did not maintain any contact with her and she was raised entirely by her mother, starting her singing career at the age of seven. Her first concert performance was in Calcutta in 1934 whereas her first hit came in 1938 with 'Deewana banana he to deewana bana de' whereas her subsequent renditions of 'Merey hum nafas mere hum nasheen' and 'Aye mohabbat tere anjaam pe rona aya' immortalised her.
A recurrent theme throughout the book is Begum Akhtar's preoccupation with 'respectability'. She wanted to be seen as someone with a status in society and not to be identified as a singer or a tawaif. It was this yearning for respectability that drove her to marry Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi, a respected Lucknow barrister, in 1944. She gave up singing altogether after her marriage, returning to it only to assuage her inconsolable grief after her mother's death. Interestingly, it was Abbasi Sahib's love for and insight into Urdu poetry that lent depth to Begum Akhtar's repertoire and clarity to her recitation of prose.
The narrative suggests however that this respectability was often a yoke around Begum Akhtar's neck which she managed to carry only with the help of her music, and then too by escaping into her more familiar reality of a courtesan's life. Her existence at No 1 Havelock Road, in Lucknow, where she was surrounded by her 'extended family' whose precise relationship with her are either not known or deliberately avoided, was circumscribed. She needed and found her escape by attending concerts and recording sessions and appears to have come into her element when ensconced with her fellow musicians and friends from the film world in her suite at the Sea Green South Hotel at Marine Drive in Mumbai or Nirula's hotel in Delhi.
Her death is most poignantly described. She died in Ahmedabad, away from her family and from Shanti Hiranand, fittingly after having finished what turned out to be her final performance. The utter sorrow of her husband and of the author as well as their helplessness before fate is sympathetically conveyed. Transporting her body from Ahmedabad to Lucknow proved to be the final ordeal. The scenes of her body lying on the tarmac in a luggage trolly are moving and tragic. The author here reminds us of Begum Akhtar's firm faith in God and her belief that 'mera kaam kabhi nahin rukega!' Her death and burial eventually proceeded smoothly when a pilot, who was a fan of hers, and had often flown her to Lucknow, chanced upon her abandoned entourage and took matters into his own hands.
Shanti Hiranand is conscious of the difference between her own and her guru's background and at times appears to observe, if not judge, Begum Akhtar from her elevated platform. Any breaks or tensions in her relationship with Begum Akhtar are blamed on Begum Akhtar's gullibility, fickleness and inability to recognise the true devotion of her disciple. Shanti Hiranand paints herself not only as Begum Akhtar's most faithful, loyal and indeed best disciple but also sufficiently socially superior to add a touch of dignity and class — at times wisdom — to Begum Akhtar's life. Whilst her self-indulgence is a distraction from her subject and detracts from the seriousness of the book, her genuine love for Begum Akhtar which informs and suffuses the entire narrative lends it the necessary gravitas.
The book is studded with references to luminaries who were Begum Akhtar's friends Madan Mohan, Kaifi Azmi, Jigar Moradabadi, Sitara Devi, Khayyam, Ustad Amir Khan, Jaddan Bai, Nargis and even Lata Mangeshkar pass in and out of the narrative with the ease of regular visitors. There are also several black and white shots of Begum Akhtar interspersed throughout the book. None of these photographs have captions and I had to rely on my ingenuity in identifying the persons in the scene, often with little success. Each chapter in the book also ends with an Urdu couplet in someone's neat and steady handwriting. The reader is however, not informed of the writer of these couplets nor whether they belong to ghazals sung by Begum Akhtar and, if indeed these do belong to Begum Akhtar's repertoire, when she sang them. Reference to the year or particular concert at which these were sung would have considerably enhanced the reader's pleasure.
The success of the book lies in its direct, candid language and the fact that though it does not assuage curiosity it paints a sufficiently vivid portrait of Begum Akhtar to pique the reader's interest and desire more information about the extraordinarily complex, and often contradictory, Begum Akhtar who belonged at once to the world of court musicians as well as the modern day of recording studios and electronic transmissions. She was at once sufficiently secure in herself to know her place in the singing tradition of her country and insecure enough never to venture out without a pair of high heels; who was religious enough to perform Hajj thrice and to attempt fasting but was also a heavy drinker and an incurable romantic; who was astute enough to manage a career spanning more than four decades and yet naive enough to be susceptible to flattery. Shanti Hiranand's efforts are commendable for introducing her to another generation.