This Book Encapsules Major Information Carnatic Music For Competive Examinations.

When Namita is ten, her mother takes her to Dhondutai, a respected Mumbai music teacher from the great Jaipur Gharana. Dhondutai has dedicated herself to music and her antecedents are rich. She is the only remaining student of the legendary Alladiya Khan, the founder of the gharana and of its most famous singer, the tempestuous songbird, Kesarbai Kerkar. Namita begins to learn singing from Dhondutai, at first reluctantly and then, as the years pass, with growing passion. Dhondutai sees in her a second Kesar, but does Namita have the dedication to give herself up completely to music—or will there always be too many late nights and cigarettes? Beautifully written, full of anecdotes, gossip and legend, The Music Room is perhaps the most intimate book to be written about Indian classical music yet.

About the book: In India there are several dance forms in vogue and among them seven dance forms Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam, and Odissi which are recognize by the majority of scholars and art lovers as classical dance forms. Each of these seven classical dances has a tradition of several thousand years. These seven dance forms have established themselves as classical dance on the basis of historical background, purity, technical complexities, and maturity. Each of the classical style come from a specific region of India and is governed by certain rules. These rules are applied either consciously or instinctively and are governed by Bharat Muni’s “Natyashastra.” These dances are performed adopting specific music.

As thumri moved from the courtesan salon to the Public concert hall, its style and image changed drametically in accordance with the evolving aesthetic of its new bourgeois patrons. Thumri in Historical and stylistic perspectives constitutes a welcome and significant contribution to the study of Hindustani music and south Asian culture in general.