India's Great Masters

Book excerpt: Raghu Rai, India`s best known photographer, first shot a series of memorable photo essays on the masters of Indian classical music for India Today magazine in the mid- 980s. Since then, he has ever stopped shooting them in concerts, in their homes, with their gurus, and in special locations. Rai profiles only thirteen masters the greatest of the great nayak musicians who went much beyond their gharanas and broke new ground with their approach to music. They include Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kumar Gandharva, S. Balchander, Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Vilayat Khan, Bismillah Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Bhimsen Joshi. Eight of these masters have passed away, so these portraits in turn affectionate, intense, playful, and reverent will remain their definitive ones, a precious and unsurpassable record of Indian musical heritage. Only a true rasik like Rai could have taken these pictures, for they required someone who possessed not only an understanding of classical music but also complete humility. Both aspects are evident in the extraordinary images that follow. The book is accompanied by a perceptive text written by noted writer and music expert Ashok Vajpeyi, chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. His profiles of these musicians show what makes them great, alongside giving us remarkable snapshots of their lives, on and off the stage. A fonder photographic tribute to the custodians of Indian classical music could not have been possible. This is undoubtedly a collector`s edition.