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Where Does It Hurt? (Hook Book): Exploring complex emotions through poetry | 5+
Allahabad, early twentieth century. The British rule across India, but Avadhi culture is thriving. In this city where singers, musicians and poets assemble, a star emerges. Janki Bai Ilahabadi enthrals listeners wherever she performs, and counts as her fans maharajas and maharanis, poets and judges, nawabs and government officials-everyone. She is Janki 'Chhappan Chhuri', Janki of the fifty-six knives-attacked in her youth, she survives miraculously. Brought up in a nautch house, she rises to become the queen of Allahabad, her voice taking her from penury to palaces and royal durbars.Based on the real-life story of Hindustani singer Janki Bai Ilahabadi (1880-1934), Requiem in Raga Janki is the beautifully rendered tale of one of India's unknown gems. Moving from Hindustani classical music's earliest times to the age of the gramophone, from Tansen's mysticism to Hassu Khan's stringent opposition of recordings, this is a novel that brings to life a golden era of music through the eyes of a gifted performer.
40 pages, Paperback
Published February 4, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 17 reviews
September 6, 2019
Neelum Saran Gour's 'Requiem in Raga Janki' had me in a state of rapture.
About the life and times of the famous singer Janki Bai Ilahabadi, Gour's historical novel is a feat of the imagination. It animates the kotha world vividly, pays due attention to all significant relationships of its protagonist, brings alive some of the scope and tradition of Hindustani music for even the most indifferent ones (I fit the type), and excels at the task of showing celebrities of a different century as living-breathing creatures, each with their own mix of tantrums, kindness, vanity, generosity, et al. The novel is set firm in its setting but misses no opportunity to speak to/for our times. One of its highlights, for me, was Janki's first meeting with the poet Akbar Ilahabadi - I really thought sparks were flying out of my kindle. Janki's first interaction with Gauhar Jan was another high point. Gauhar, who was a contemporary more 'beautiful' and more famous than Janki, did not manage her finances as deftly as Janki did, and the novel makes the reader aware of this only latently, not as a case of belaboring its protagonist's 'superiority' (as a less wise writer might have tried).
Gour's novel is easily among the best Indian novels in this century. However, it has somehow not received the attention that it deserves (at least I think so; though it won the Hindu Literary Prize last year). I strongly recommend it to all my writing-reading friends. Frankly, the book should have been an Indian literary export; for I don't see why it would not have succeeded internationally. I hope that it continues to interest award juries. I also hope that it interests Indian filmmakers.
About the life and times of the famous singer Janki Bai Ilahabadi, Gour's historical novel is a feat of the imagination. It animates the kotha world vividly, pays due attention to all significant relationships of its protagonist, brings alive some of the scope and tradition of Hindustani music for even the most indifferent ones (I fit the type), and excels at the task of showing celebrities of a different century as living-breathing creatures, each with their own mix of tantrums, kindness, vanity, generosity, et al. The novel is set firm in its setting but misses no opportunity to speak to/for our times. One of its highlights, for me, was Janki's first meeting with the poet Akbar Ilahabadi - I really thought sparks were flying out of my kindle. Janki's first interaction with Gauhar Jan was another high point. Gauhar, who was a contemporary more 'beautiful' and more famous than Janki, did not manage her finances as deftly as Janki did, and the novel makes the reader aware of this only latently, not as a case of belaboring its protagonist's 'superiority' (as a less wise writer might have tried).
Gour's novel is easily among the best Indian novels in this century. However, it has somehow not received the attention that it deserves (at least I think so; though it won the Hindu Literary Prize last year). I strongly recommend it to all my writing-reading friends. Frankly, the book should have been an Indian literary export; for I don't see why it would not have succeeded internationally. I hope that it continues to interest award juries. I also hope that it interests Indian filmmakers.
March 23, 2021
A breathtaking historical fiction, 'Requiem in Raga Janki' introduces us to one of India's finest (yet hidden) singer - Janki Bai.
Born in 1880, Janki Bai was a woman who lived on her own terms. Inspite of being born in a patriarchal society, she narrowly escaped the life of a prostitute, converted to Islam, unashamedly earned more than her husband, adopted a child and didn't even take a moment to throw him out when he wronged his wife! I may go as far as saying that she was a real badass woman!!
Janki Bai's story is indeed marvelous, and Neelum Saran Gour's writing made it even more beautiful! The research is absolutely thorough and it really shows. This book could have easily been written in a tragic tone, showing Janki Bai as a damsel in distress. But hats off to the author for writing it in an empowering one instead!
Apart from an overload of historical facts at some places, this book is a true delight to read!
Born in 1880, Janki Bai was a woman who lived on her own terms. Inspite of being born in a patriarchal society, she narrowly escaped the life of a prostitute, converted to Islam, unashamedly earned more than her husband, adopted a child and didn't even take a moment to throw him out when he wronged his wife! I may go as far as saying that she was a real badass woman!!
Janki Bai's story is indeed marvelous, and Neelum Saran Gour's writing made it even more beautiful! The research is absolutely thorough and it really shows. This book could have easily been written in a tragic tone, showing Janki Bai as a damsel in distress. But hats off to the author for writing it in an empowering one instead!
Apart from an overload of historical facts at some places, this book is a true delight to read!
June 19, 2020
Rather slow to begin with, it picks up pace as it progresses, like developing of Raag. Janki Illahabadi’s transformation from disfigured and meek Kothawali to highly respected singer is quite compelling. All her relationships, be it with her mother, husband or Akbar Illahabadi are finely nuanced and well crafted. Interesting anecdotes about legends like Tansen, Abdul Karim Khan saheb to name a few and titbits of history about origin of different Raags are strewn across the book. It provides interesting glimpses in lives of Tawaifs and great musicians of the time. Anecdotes about grandeurs of Indian royals and their love and backing for classical musicians, her friendship with Gauhar jaan which had many undercurrents are well developed and written. Unfortunately, story loses pace intermittently and narrative gets stuck at some places, particularly in the first half of the book. On the whole a good read based on the life and times of Jankibai Illahabadi
February 28, 2024
Growing up with a father who was—and still is—an absolute music fanatic, lover of the notes of Bade Ghulam Ali Sahab, Naushad, O.P. Nayyar, the voice of Mohammad Rafi Sahab, and the words of Sahir Ludhianvi, Shakeel Badayuni and Majrooh Sultanpuri (I am sure I have missed many of his heroes and heroines, still), it is perhaps no big surprise that I was bound to enjoy this book. But love it to pieces? I was not expecting it.
Layers
The Book (capitalisation is not an error) is not just about music. And that is what I was expecting it to be. To be sure, music is an important part of my upbringing and identity. The relationship I share with it is in the same league as that of my faith. It is important and intimate and sometimes, off-limits, too. I communicate with it, through it. Vivek shared a song with me when he was wooing me and I knew I had to marry him. (I think he knew what he was doing!) So, reading the various anecdotes of renowned musicians like Tansen and the playful Gujarati woman, whose name is lost to history, who could summon the rains through Raga Malhar to fill up the well to retrieve her nath, was a reward in itself.
But the book is substantially more than these interesting references and even the portrait of Janki Bai herself:
Naseeban Bua’s brothel in Allahabad, where girls and hearts are broken and “readied” for the world.
Manki’s shock and her refusal to come to terms with the betrayal at the hands of her superwoman friend Parvati, her helplessness at the hands of her husband who fell for another, and her desperate way to protecting her only daughter from the brothel by constantly reminding her—and the world around her— about her scars and their grotesque ugliness.
Janki’s perplexity of her mother’s change of behaviour, because how much can a ten, eleven-year-old heart can endure and understand?
How Janki’s father fell for Lakshmi, the girl he saved from drowning, a seemingly kind, even innocuous act that would rip their family apart, while tying the small payal on her feet, tracing his fingers against the soft beds of her toes. And a horrified, helpless Manki watching them. These vivid pictures speak so much about the human condition, the unfairness and the absurdity of life. The small moments and acts that have a cataclysmic potential for calamities.
The pictures are so vivid; feels like I was there when Beni hugged and calmed a distraught Subuhi on seeing the rag dolls being beaten and flung in the pond. When they were marched to their own make-believe wedding as a cruel joke in the brothel courtyard during the “turning point” by other brothel girls. When Shaheen, the brothel girl, decides that Beni and Subuhi’s love, this “obscenity” has gone far enough. Yes, this is a world where love has become an obscenity. Why? Because:
[…] As obscene as filling one’s belly with delectable food in full view of a cage-ful of starving captives. [...]
Naseeban Bua is the only winner here. She breaks Subuhi, breaks Beni’s heart too. Perhaps Beni is to be blamed for it himself. This is where Janki trained. This is her world. This is the place she choses over royal courtyards without ever batting an eye.
The portrait of the artist
[...] Art converts all experience into the medium it works in. [...]
Even tea tastes like “re” of Raga Poorvi to Janki Baiji.
We see art consuming the artist like only art can and does. This art is her captor, her saviour. It is impossible to breathe free from it. I wonder if artists sometimes crave freedom from the art they live and breathe in, the very gift that they seek from Saraswati Maa.
I loved the koel anecdote and shayari that was inspired by this longing.
I asked the black one on the mang bough
Tell me why you sing, O koel.
Looked at me she in amaze and said,
“Sing? What’s that sister?”
[...]
“Sister, I know not what you mean,” said she to me.
“I live my life, that’s all I do.”
I envied her more
For her freedom from song
Even while she sang.
These tiny chronicles, as chiseled by the author, Neelum Saran Gour, into the stories, the bigger, fuller portrait of Janki Bai are a testament to her writing prowess. It shows that she has indeed welcomed Janki Bai as another member of her family for the ten years she spent researching on her.
Religion
I was there, as a reader, when Janki Bai summons the lone tonga at the hour of the Brahma, the Brahmamuhurta, when she takes the ferry with a mysterious stranger, first to the hermit, and then to the Sangam and places the white clay figurine of Saraswati Maa into the rapids, at the fracture where Ganga meets Yamuna. What an incredibly difficult thing to do for an artist. The hermit asks her to reconsider her decision of converting to Islam, and Janki Bai refuses to do so, and he is displeased. Yet he accepts her decision. The hermit’s message was so overpowering: [...] we who, being Hindus, allow the faiths to speak to us, who can be anything we desire, any faith on earth.
[...] The more devout one becomes, the others follow suit. Even to madness. [...] – what a powerful thought uttered by Beni.
Janki is herself doubtful, if her gods, her Kanha and Saraswati, would turn away from her. But they make space for her new faith. This is a beautiful message that personally appealed to me. Instead of debating the superiority of faiths, there is always knowledge, wisdoms that can be acquired from multiple ages and sages, and kept and treasured. A part of me was at peace when Janki was at peace.
Character development
One thing a lot of writers can take note of is how this book is about Janki but it is also about Manki, Beni, Haq Sahib, the diva Gauhar, the young, pure of heart, Chandni and the adorably grumpy Akbar Sahib. It is an ode to lovers, women, musicians—history’s favorites and also the ones forgotten by her.
The author does justice to all the characters without a judgment, treats their vulnerabilities justly and that is why it awakens and sustains empathy in us. The author’s pen is gentle, shading even the most vile characters in a spectrum of gray: Haq Sahib or Lakshmi. There’s an open endedness to strange tragedies in the story, that just keeps us from hating these gray players. We don't know exactly why Lakshmi ran away. We don’t know if Haq Sahib, did in fact, fund his stepson’s ganja habit. There’s just a hint, yes, but that’s all there is. Perhaps because we have no real way of knowing anyone for sure in this world.
Even so, if I were to detest a character, it would be Haq Sahib, without a doubt. Men like him, and unfortunately, there are countless of them, who take down a woman of substance, make her ordinary and peel the layers of her spirit until it doesn’t pose a threat to their own mediocrity.
The book is a tribute to the greats, to the many men and women of the ages who contributed to our country’s rich musical heritage. Infused with humour, no less. Haddu Khan’s indignation at HMV’s lovable logo of the black dog, “His Master’s Voice,” and he saying “La haul wa la quwat” to it! How Akbar Sahib blasted the telephone operators when they eavesdropped on him. I wonder what he’d say about Instagram and WhatsApp; when he had choicest of words for Air Mail!
Conclusion
This is a book that is now one of my personal favorites. There’s a mystical shade to the characters: Haq Sahib’s first wife, whose ragas stupor even the indomitable Janki Bai herself, and the lone fakir who lights the incense at Janki Bai’s mazaar. I’d wager it was Bhola Nath Bhatt.
It made me think, feel, appreciate music and artists even more—when I thought it wasn’t possible for me to love it more. It has expanded my universe. I’d recommend this book to a few people who can “handle” it.
Layers
The Book (capitalisation is not an error) is not just about music. And that is what I was expecting it to be. To be sure, music is an important part of my upbringing and identity. The relationship I share with it is in the same league as that of my faith. It is important and intimate and sometimes, off-limits, too. I communicate with it, through it. Vivek shared a song with me when he was wooing me and I knew I had to marry him. (I think he knew what he was doing!) So, reading the various anecdotes of renowned musicians like Tansen and the playful Gujarati woman, whose name is lost to history, who could summon the rains through Raga Malhar to fill up the well to retrieve her nath, was a reward in itself.
But the book is substantially more than these interesting references and even the portrait of Janki Bai herself:
Naseeban Bua’s brothel in Allahabad, where girls and hearts are broken and “readied” for the world.
Manki’s shock and her refusal to come to terms with the betrayal at the hands of her superwoman friend Parvati, her helplessness at the hands of her husband who fell for another, and her desperate way to protecting her only daughter from the brothel by constantly reminding her—and the world around her— about her scars and their grotesque ugliness.
Janki’s perplexity of her mother’s change of behaviour, because how much can a ten, eleven-year-old heart can endure and understand?
How Janki’s father fell for Lakshmi, the girl he saved from drowning, a seemingly kind, even innocuous act that would rip their family apart, while tying the small payal on her feet, tracing his fingers against the soft beds of her toes. And a horrified, helpless Manki watching them. These vivid pictures speak so much about the human condition, the unfairness and the absurdity of life. The small moments and acts that have a cataclysmic potential for calamities.
The pictures are so vivid; feels like I was there when Beni hugged and calmed a distraught Subuhi on seeing the rag dolls being beaten and flung in the pond. When they were marched to their own make-believe wedding as a cruel joke in the brothel courtyard during the “turning point” by other brothel girls. When Shaheen, the brothel girl, decides that Beni and Subuhi’s love, this “obscenity” has gone far enough. Yes, this is a world where love has become an obscenity. Why? Because:
[…] As obscene as filling one’s belly with delectable food in full view of a cage-ful of starving captives. [...]
Naseeban Bua is the only winner here. She breaks Subuhi, breaks Beni’s heart too. Perhaps Beni is to be blamed for it himself. This is where Janki trained. This is her world. This is the place she choses over royal courtyards without ever batting an eye.
The portrait of the artist
[...] Art converts all experience into the medium it works in. [...]
Even tea tastes like “re” of Raga Poorvi to Janki Baiji.
We see art consuming the artist like only art can and does. This art is her captor, her saviour. It is impossible to breathe free from it. I wonder if artists sometimes crave freedom from the art they live and breathe in, the very gift that they seek from Saraswati Maa.
I loved the koel anecdote and shayari that was inspired by this longing.
I asked the black one on the mang bough
Tell me why you sing, O koel.
Looked at me she in amaze and said,
“Sing? What’s that sister?”
[...]
“Sister, I know not what you mean,” said she to me.
“I live my life, that’s all I do.”
I envied her more
For her freedom from song
Even while she sang.
These tiny chronicles, as chiseled by the author, Neelum Saran Gour, into the stories, the bigger, fuller portrait of Janki Bai are a testament to her writing prowess. It shows that she has indeed welcomed Janki Bai as another member of her family for the ten years she spent researching on her.
Religion
I was there, as a reader, when Janki Bai summons the lone tonga at the hour of the Brahma, the Brahmamuhurta, when she takes the ferry with a mysterious stranger, first to the hermit, and then to the Sangam and places the white clay figurine of Saraswati Maa into the rapids, at the fracture where Ganga meets Yamuna. What an incredibly difficult thing to do for an artist. The hermit asks her to reconsider her decision of converting to Islam, and Janki Bai refuses to do so, and he is displeased. Yet he accepts her decision. The hermit’s message was so overpowering: [...] we who, being Hindus, allow the faiths to speak to us, who can be anything we desire, any faith on earth.
[...] The more devout one becomes, the others follow suit. Even to madness. [...] – what a powerful thought uttered by Beni.
Janki is herself doubtful, if her gods, her Kanha and Saraswati, would turn away from her. But they make space for her new faith. This is a beautiful message that personally appealed to me. Instead of debating the superiority of faiths, there is always knowledge, wisdoms that can be acquired from multiple ages and sages, and kept and treasured. A part of me was at peace when Janki was at peace.
Character development
One thing a lot of writers can take note of is how this book is about Janki but it is also about Manki, Beni, Haq Sahib, the diva Gauhar, the young, pure of heart, Chandni and the adorably grumpy Akbar Sahib. It is an ode to lovers, women, musicians—history’s favorites and also the ones forgotten by her.
The author does justice to all the characters without a judgment, treats their vulnerabilities justly and that is why it awakens and sustains empathy in us. The author’s pen is gentle, shading even the most vile characters in a spectrum of gray: Haq Sahib or Lakshmi. There’s an open endedness to strange tragedies in the story, that just keeps us from hating these gray players. We don't know exactly why Lakshmi ran away. We don’t know if Haq Sahib, did in fact, fund his stepson’s ganja habit. There’s just a hint, yes, but that’s all there is. Perhaps because we have no real way of knowing anyone for sure in this world.
Even so, if I were to detest a character, it would be Haq Sahib, without a doubt. Men like him, and unfortunately, there are countless of them, who take down a woman of substance, make her ordinary and peel the layers of her spirit until it doesn’t pose a threat to their own mediocrity.
The book is a tribute to the greats, to the many men and women of the ages who contributed to our country’s rich musical heritage. Infused with humour, no less. Haddu Khan’s indignation at HMV’s lovable logo of the black dog, “His Master’s Voice,” and he saying “La haul wa la quwat” to it! How Akbar Sahib blasted the telephone operators when they eavesdropped on him. I wonder what he’d say about Instagram and WhatsApp; when he had choicest of words for Air Mail!
Conclusion
This is a book that is now one of my personal favorites. There’s a mystical shade to the characters: Haq Sahib’s first wife, whose ragas stupor even the indomitable Janki Bai herself, and the lone fakir who lights the incense at Janki Bai’s mazaar. I’d wager it was Bhola Nath Bhatt.
It made me think, feel, appreciate music and artists even more—when I thought it wasn’t possible for me to love it more. It has expanded my universe. I’d recommend this book to a few people who can “handle” it.
March 1, 2021
An Indian raga is an extremely structured piece of music. They claim it to be the oldest form of music in the world. The aalap sets the tone in which the song will swell and dip to the creaking notes of the harmonium, and then it begins in those same seven notes starting out soft and rising to crescendo to soar with the singers of the old, before dipping back down to skim the planes of the earth. Indian literature focuses mostly on the greats. It tells the stories of all the mythological women, who have sat in front of their Ashoka tree or who have been gambled away like a deck of cards, it tells the story of the Mughals whose history dots the empire in great darwaza’s and domes. But very rarely does it tell the tale of courtesans who danced and sang in natch houses. Often proclaimed as whores, simply for their devotion to art.
This novel, tells the long-forgotten tale of Janki Bai, the legendary singer of Allahbad who at the age of eight was attacked and wore for the rest of her years the disfigurement of 56 knife wounds. The language her tale is written in is lyrical and haunting as the accounts of her life weave into history and cross over into fiction, the stitches of the story simple yet beautiful. The narration reminded me a bit of how Amitav Ghosh writes, jumping through accounts of her life and through time with carelessness. With a sprinkling of reality as to how women artists are treated in the subcontinent that resonates true even today, the descriptive storytelling and the character on who it is based, this book keeps a reader captivated for days to come as you follow Janki from childhood to death when her belongings become nothing but petty change to be burnt for melted gold and silver. A story for artists in all forms of the word.
This novel, tells the long-forgotten tale of Janki Bai, the legendary singer of Allahbad who at the age of eight was attacked and wore for the rest of her years the disfigurement of 56 knife wounds. The language her tale is written in is lyrical and haunting as the accounts of her life weave into history and cross over into fiction, the stitches of the story simple yet beautiful. The narration reminded me a bit of how Amitav Ghosh writes, jumping through accounts of her life and through time with carelessness. With a sprinkling of reality as to how women artists are treated in the subcontinent that resonates true even today, the descriptive storytelling and the character on who it is based, this book keeps a reader captivated for days to come as you follow Janki from childhood to death when her belongings become nothing but petty change to be burnt for melted gold and silver. A story for artists in all forms of the word.
September 1, 2019
Title- Requiem in Raga Janki
Author- Neelum Saran Gaur
Publisher- Penguin Random House
Pages- 370
Rating - 4⭐/5
Set in the city of Allahabad,during early twentieth century.
There British rule across India, but Avadhi culture is thriving.
In this city where singers, musicians and poets assemble, a star emerges.Janki Bai Ilahabadi also popularly known as 'Chhappan Chhuri' ( due to fifty-six knives-attacked in her youth, that she survives miraculously)
Brought up in a nautch house,after the family is abandoned by the father,just after the 56 knives thing, ultimately she rises to become the queen of Allahabad, her voice taking her from penury to palaces and royal durbars.
And the best thing it is based on the real-life story of Hindustani singer Janki Bai Ilahabadi (1880-1934), Writing is so elaborate with beautiful visual and other sensory elements,that you feel what the characters are feeing & smell what they are smelling. But also this is one of those book when you realise that even after 100 pages story has moved forward very less because everything is so elaborate and detailed, if you have loved the God of small things,surely you'll enjoy this,
Requiem in Raga Janki is the beautifully rendered tale of one of India's unknown gems. Moving from Hindustani classical music's earliest times to the age of the gramophone, from Tansen's mysticism to Hassu Khan's stringent opposition of recordings, this is a novel that brings to life a golden era of music through the eyes of a gifted performer.
Author- Neelum Saran Gaur
Publisher- Penguin Random House
Pages- 370
Rating - 4⭐/5
Set in the city of Allahabad,during early twentieth century.
There British rule across India, but Avadhi culture is thriving.
In this city where singers, musicians and poets assemble, a star emerges.Janki Bai Ilahabadi also popularly known as 'Chhappan Chhuri' ( due to fifty-six knives-attacked in her youth, that she survives miraculously)
Brought up in a nautch house,after the family is abandoned by the father,just after the 56 knives thing, ultimately she rises to become the queen of Allahabad, her voice taking her from penury to palaces and royal durbars.
And the best thing it is based on the real-life story of Hindustani singer Janki Bai Ilahabadi (1880-1934), Writing is so elaborate with beautiful visual and other sensory elements,that you feel what the characters are feeing & smell what they are smelling. But also this is one of those book when you realise that even after 100 pages story has moved forward very less because everything is so elaborate and detailed, if you have loved the God of small things,surely you'll enjoy this,
Requiem in Raga Janki is the beautifully rendered tale of one of India's unknown gems. Moving from Hindustani classical music's earliest times to the age of the gramophone, from Tansen's mysticism to Hassu Khan's stringent opposition of recordings, this is a novel that brings to life a golden era of music through the eyes of a gifted performer.
October 19, 2024
Pain. It's like a stream of tricking water through the ceiling; the walls will eventually come down. Hence, if not shared, it will transform into a ticking bomb that will explode when you least expect it. 'Where Does It Hurt?' serves as an eye opener for children and adults alike, exposing them to the harsh truth that pain or grief need not be bottled within, for it can rob the spirit of the zeal!
With beautiful illustrations depicting short scenarios, this book explains how asking someone about where it hurts can initiate the process of healing. Although the children's book aspires to foster empathy by teaching young readers to ask others where it hurts, it falls short in its execution. The examples provided, while well-intentioned, sometimes sacrifice practical life wisdom in an attempt to encourage kindness. This approach, instead of equipping children with nuanced understanding, risks oversimplifying complex situations where empathy alone may not always be the appropriate or complete response.
Despite the practical flaw, I liked how the genuity of the writer’s intentions leaves a mark on children and adults alike. Asking about pain or grief helps in relieving the stress and that’s possibly the first step towards making children compassionate.
With beautiful illustrations depicting short scenarios, this book explains how asking someone about where it hurts can initiate the process of healing. Although the children's book aspires to foster empathy by teaching young readers to ask others where it hurts, it falls short in its execution. The examples provided, while well-intentioned, sometimes sacrifice practical life wisdom in an attempt to encourage kindness. This approach, instead of equipping children with nuanced understanding, risks oversimplifying complex situations where empathy alone may not always be the appropriate or complete response.
Despite the practical flaw, I liked how the genuity of the writer’s intentions leaves a mark on children and adults alike. Asking about pain or grief helps in relieving the stress and that’s possibly the first step towards making children compassionate.
November 3, 2024
Where Does It Hurt? is a delightful addition to children's poetry and picture books that I found both charming and meaningful. Samina Mishra’s poetry offers a gentle yet powerful way for young readers to understand emotions and the importance of kindness.
The book encourages children to think about how others are feeling, showing that even a simple question can bring comfort. The words are easy to grasp but carry a deep message about empathy and support, making it perfect for early readers. It's a beautiful experience, a perfect gift to introduce reading to kids and teach a meaningful lesson all along.
I adore the fact that while some kinds of hurt healed with practical solutions, the difficult ones were mentioned as 'perhaps the hurt will disappear'.
The vibrant illustrations by Allen Shaw are a lovely complement to the text, adding an extra layer of warmth and engagement, ensuring the readers are engaged and entertained. I highly recommend it for parents and educators looking to nurture empathy in young hearts! It's really worth the appreciation that authors are making such great efforts to introduce difficult themes to kids.
The book encourages children to think about how others are feeling, showing that even a simple question can bring comfort. The words are easy to grasp but carry a deep message about empathy and support, making it perfect for early readers. It's a beautiful experience, a perfect gift to introduce reading to kids and teach a meaningful lesson all along.
I adore the fact that while some kinds of hurt healed with practical solutions, the difficult ones were mentioned as 'perhaps the hurt will disappear'.
The vibrant illustrations by Allen Shaw are a lovely complement to the text, adding an extra layer of warmth and engagement, ensuring the readers are engaged and entertained. I highly recommend it for parents and educators looking to nurture empathy in young hearts! It's really worth the appreciation that authors are making such great efforts to introduce difficult themes to kids.
March 12, 2023
A very well written book. Till i started reading this book, I wasn't aware that the genre was historical fiction. This is the story of the yesteryear classical singer, Jankibai Illahbahdi.
I have already said it is well written but I have a grouse here. The tone and writing style at the start morphs into something completely different somewhere in the middle of this story. Wonder what made the author change her tone. I found that extremely perplexing. The connect I felt with the central character was lost in this process.
Having said that, this is an extremely well researched and nuanced book. It gives a good glimpse into the lives of famous hindustani singers during the British Raj. Read it if that subject catches your fancy.
I have already said it is well written but I have a grouse here. The tone and writing style at the start morphs into something completely different somewhere in the middle of this story. Wonder what made the author change her tone. I found that extremely perplexing. The connect I felt with the central character was lost in this process.
Having said that, this is an extremely well researched and nuanced book. It gives a good glimpse into the lives of famous hindustani singers during the British Raj. Read it if that subject catches your fancy.
January 18, 2020
What a beautiful book. I read and I re read while reading it. I did not want to let it go. Beautiful verse tracing the life of Janki Illahbadi. The repartee with Akbar Illahbadi was probably my most favorite. Tragic in some parts, moving in some and beautiful all through. If you love music or curious about Benaras and Allahbad Pre independence or the Baisa, Tawaifs , gramophone recordings ... read this. Can’t reccomend it enough.
October 29, 2021
Gour’s book can best be compared with Vikram Sampath’s My Name is Gauhar Jan (Rupa Publications 2010). However, Sampath’s book is a work of non-fiction while Gour’s is a novelization.
Though Requiem in Raga Janki does not have the most literary value it is valuable for introducing the reader to an under-appreciated figure in Hindustani classical music. I highly recommend it to those who are interested in this artform and particularly in courtesan culture.
Though Requiem in Raga Janki does not have the most literary value it is valuable for introducing the reader to an under-appreciated figure in Hindustani classical music. I highly recommend it to those who are interested in this artform and particularly in courtesan culture.
December 7, 2021
This is a historical fiction that gives us a glimpse of the inner working of the homes and lives of yesteryear tawaifs. However the narration is dreary and drags a lot for no apparent reason. The last quarter of the book is good and the story picks up pace. But to reach that part you have to sit through long, unnecessary explanations which could have been done without
May 26, 2020
The book has been set in the city of Allahabad during the early twentieth century. It is a historic fiction based on the real-life of Janki bai Ilalhabadi also called chappan churi because of an attack that took place when she was a kid. She was an exceptional singer, dancer, and poet. In the city which had a strong foundation of Awadhi culture (during British Raj), she left her mark as the Queen.
The book obviously is about Janki bais life and how her family relocated to Allahabad and how she became a nationally recognized singer from a mere tawaif's daughter. The book depicts the time really well as it shows how society, religion, relations, love, and politics intertwined with the journey of the protagonist. I don't want to give away anything from the book as it is worth a read.
The first 50-60 pages are a little slow as it talks about music, it's ragas and a lot of other things that I couldn't understand completely but gradually all that gets absorbed and leads to the protagonist. The book was so gripping that I found myself excited and eager to return back to it.
So I hope you found this post helpful. And I hope you pick it up this beautiful historic fiction and love it.
The book obviously is about Janki bais life and how her family relocated to Allahabad and how she became a nationally recognized singer from a mere tawaif's daughter. The book depicts the time really well as it shows how society, religion, relations, love, and politics intertwined with the journey of the protagonist. I don't want to give away anything from the book as it is worth a read.
The first 50-60 pages are a little slow as it talks about music, it's ragas and a lot of other things that I couldn't understand completely but gradually all that gets absorbed and leads to the protagonist. The book was so gripping that I found myself excited and eager to return back to it.
So I hope you found this post helpful. And I hope you pick it up this beautiful historic fiction and love it.
January 18, 2021
Neelum Saran Gaur should have been declared a national treasure after this book. A wonderful biography of a nautch girl. Awadh stands represented.
May 29, 2024
Requiem means a piece of music written to honour of a dead person. A remarkable true story of an artist and a celebrity Janaki Bai Ilahabadi set . A woman who achieved this position due to her talent and her will to excel.
“Swarsiddhi-that’s the word for it, to be a siddha of the swara, an dept of the note, one who has perfected the miracle of self-disappearance at a magic moment of transfiguration.
And those that have the good fortune to take this holy dip in the still waters of primal swara come up washed and sanctified like prayerful pilgrims drenched in grace. Then even an ugly woman shines with a radiance that touches us with exaltation.”
Funkaar ka imtihaan soorat se nahin, seerat se liya jaata hai, huzoor. The test of artist is the art, sir, not the face.
The Natyashastra, that divine textbook for actors, dancers and singers, conceived in the mind of Brahma as the fifth veda and materialised through the agency of Bharat-muni, was taught by the latter to a hundred sons.
Tansen was a Kalawanth but whether he was a Hindu or Muslim was an issue hotly debated.
“Swarsiddhi-that’s the word for it, to be a siddha of the swara, an dept of the note, one who has perfected the miracle of self-disappearance at a magic moment of transfiguration.
And those that have the good fortune to take this holy dip in the still waters of primal swara come up washed and sanctified like prayerful pilgrims drenched in grace. Then even an ugly woman shines with a radiance that touches us with exaltation.”
Funkaar ka imtihaan soorat se nahin, seerat se liya jaata hai, huzoor. The test of artist is the art, sir, not the face.
The Natyashastra, that divine textbook for actors, dancers and singers, conceived in the mind of Brahma as the fifth veda and materialised through the agency of Bharat-muni, was taught by the latter to a hundred sons.
Tansen was a Kalawanth but whether he was a Hindu or Muslim was an issue hotly debated.
May 7, 2020
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MINI BOOK REVIEW
[Requiem in Raga Janki]
A historical fiction based on the real life story of Hindustani singer Janki Bai Ilahabadi (1800-1934).
Janki’s singing it at its height right as record players become more popular. I enjoyed analyzing how technology changed her singing career. Neelum Saran Gour artfully depicts how Janki pushes the envelop of what is and isn’t allowed for women. As a singer, Janki is exempt from some societal rules, but the gossips never stop. Gour also shows how religion is a huge influence in Janki’s life and city. ⚡️3/5
MINI BOOK REVIEW
[Requiem in Raga Janki]
A historical fiction based on the real life story of Hindustani singer Janki Bai Ilahabadi (1800-1934).
Janki’s singing it at its height right as record players become more popular. I enjoyed analyzing how technology changed her singing career. Neelum Saran Gour artfully depicts how Janki pushes the envelop of what is and isn’t allowed for women. As a singer, Janki is exempt from some societal rules, but the gossips never stop. Gour also shows how religion is a huge influence in Janki’s life and city. ⚡️3/5
Displaying 1 - 16 of 17 reviews