The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan

by Namita Devidayal

Everyone knows Vilayat Khan but no one knows Vilayat Khan. Meditative and playful, generous and ruthless, he was many things to many people. He broke hearts and he broke rules. He tinkered as furiously with his car as he did with his instrument, which he transformed technically to create the new sitar standard. And always there was the music, at the centre of his being, protected and unharmed—music that contained the sound of ‘fairies dancing, elephants walking’. Vilayat Khan saw music. He was the man who made the sitar sing. . Namita Devidayal, author of the acclaimed bestseller, The Music Room , recreates the extraordinary life of an artiste who fundamentally and forever changed Indian instrumental music. She follows his footsteps from Calcutta, through Delhi, Bombay, Shimla and Dehradun, to Princeton, USA, where he spent his last years. Filled with previously untold stories about the man and the musician, this is an intimate portrait of an uncommon genius. . It is also an absolute feat of research—and storytelling. . ‘Vilayat Khan and Ravi Shankar promised each other they would never perform together after this. Kishan Maharaj later told someone, ‘If these two eyes of India play together again, one will shut for ever.’ i

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, India, Art

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 28, 2018

About the author

Namita Devidayal is a journalist with The Times of India, where she has written on a range of subjects from a satirical column called 'yummy mummy' to personal finance to culture.

Reviews

[Khush · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is Brilliant. Read it.

[Girish · Rating 3 out of 5]

He was mad and divine, filled with contradiction, mercurial, selfish, sometimes even hateful, and other times filled with the most overwhelming expressions of love. In the end, his music transcends all else. And it makes the listener want to embrace him—and the world.

Piecing together the life of a maestro through anecdotes and interviews is a convenient one. It substitutes academic research which demands references and you can get away with stories which do not reveal the complete person, but elements in public view. This is in no ways a commentary on the book, but in contrast to my current non-fiction, this seems easy.

Vilayat Khan is a national treasure for his contribution. I am musically not trained and hence know only what good string music does to my soul. Hence this was insightful to know how it takes years of practice to come close to perfection. In the era underlined by All India Radio, musicians had a special place.

Vilayat Khan through the years - from his struggle after his father's death to claim to fame to his rivalry with Ravi Shankar to his lifestyle to his fractured family life - the book tries to convey multiple aspects in a near-chornological order. Every phase also ends with the author's research anecdote with the person who told her the most about the phase of life described in the author. Plus there are images that make the person look something beyond the CD cover.

I personally googles some of his albums and songs to listen to and one or two connected. Rest is more academic. With this confidence I purchased Music room next to read.

[Soumya Banerji · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book since I had liked the author's previous book "The Music Room". The author is a music lover and practitioner although she is not a professional musician. This gives her a very unique advantage in evaluating a maestro's life. A practicing professional tends to go deep into the music and sometimes leaves the layperson cold with her deep analysis. A mere enthusiast does not have the resources to do proper justice. Ms Devidayal, happily, is sufficiently erudite to unfold Ustad Vilayat Khan's music and life in front of us.
The author acknowledges that much of what she has written about the maestro is hearsay and Vilayat Khan had a reputation of embellishing his stories. Nevertheless the stories about him are fascinating. Ustad Vilayat Khan's life was always a mystery to the public unlike Ravi Shankar's. I was especially keen to know about him since I had the fortune of being in the same class as his nephew, Nishat Khan, in high school at Kolkata. Ms Devidayal does an admirable job of recounting his early life - the early death of his father, his running away to Delhi and then struggling to make a mark in the field of the sitar. The process by which Vilayat Khan deconstructed and reconstructed the sitar is fascinating. Her portrayal of the maestro's personality - his arrogance, his utter devotion to music at the expense of his family, his love of the finer things in life, etc. - makes for very interesting reading. I was also intrigued by her tale of his falling out with his talented brother Ustad Imrat Khan and his son Ustad Shujaat Khan.
What I missed in the narrative is the equation Vilayat Khan with the other sitar players, notably Ravi Shankar. In the beginning there is a description of the musical tussle between the two but then Ravi Shankar is kept out of the picture. It would have been interesting to have heard Vilayat Khan's take on the sitar player's of his generation.
A book worth reading simply because it reveals so many aspects of the late Ustad Vilayat Khan.

[Sumit Bhagat · Rating 4 out of 5]

"ġhunche terī zindagī pe dil hiltā hai
sirf ek tabassum ke liye khiltā hai
ġhunche ne kahā ki is chaman meñ baabā
ye ek tabassum bhī kise miltā hai"

This couplet used by one of Vilayat Khan's associates and friends in the book is emblematic of the larger theme of the world of music. It perfectly captures the thousands of hours a musician practices himself or herself into existence. Countless moments of the mundane and the repetitive, spent only to produce that one moment of flight that elevates them and their audience into a higher plane of being. That enthralls and captures like very few experiences can impact humans in their ephemeral existence on earth. Very few are elevated, and even fewer get that gift to weave that magic, for being a musician is living with both the gift and the curse of a life lived in search of that single blossoming for both their and their audience's sake.

For me, The Sixth string of Vilayat Khan was the literary equivalent of, if I may borrow the title of Jhumpa Lahiri's book, unaccustomed earth. I am not an audiophile. Though I do enjoy my sporadic dose of music, I am hardly a connoisseur of any form of high musical art. My exposure to classical music had been limited to the Spic Macay concerts that I used to attend while supporting a friend in college who was a secretary of its local chapter. I attended them more out of my love for that person than for any love for culture or music. And while I was one of those dozen people who turned up in an auditorium with a capacity for hundreds, I've nevertheless retained very fond memories of those concerts, always aware that the journey I was taking became progressively easier and more profound the farther I walked it. Thus, I picked up this book more out of intrigue than any concerted ambition. Both the subject of this book and the world being described were completely alien to me.

Ustad Vilayat Khan was born in the pre-partition Indian town of Gouripur, which now lies in modern-day Bangladesh. He was the scion of a family of iconic musicians spanning several generations, most of whom achieved widespread fame and the patronage of royalty. He had a tough childhood, losing his father at an early age but a tenacious mother, a family background in music, and an indomitable spirit helped him overcome his hardships. He had always been a prodigy and, with a little polish and immense training, he took the world of music by a storm early on. He had an uncanny way with the sitar and is largely credited for introducing the 'gayaki ang' - a way of playing that mimics the human voice.

The most interesting feat of this book is that it juxtaposes the making of a legend with the failings of a mortal. Vilayat Khan's flamboyance and his love for liquor and women are sometimes jarring with the perception one usually carries about a classical musician. His intricate attention to sartorial details feels both graceful and borderline materialistic. His fractured relationships with his brother Imrat, and later with Shujaat, his eldest son, make it apparent that even the most eminent artists fail to escape the complicated demands of everyday life, and that a body can possess both infinite talent and infinite ego in the same soul.

Vilayat Khan has always been relatively lesser known to Ravi Shankar - a fact that he was painfully aware of throughout his life. He felt he was technically sounder and truer to the art form than his contemporary who, in his attempt to popularize the art form, had denigrated it. It may also be the reason why he refused India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2000. In 1999, Ravi Shankar had been honored with the Bharat Ratna and he felt that in accepting the Padma Vibhushan he would accept himself as being second to him. Modesty was hardly one of Vilayat Khan's virtues and he had famously said, "If there is any award for sitar in India, I must get it first."

The book has its pitfalls. A lot of the anecdotes that the author uses seem outright apocryphal - more suited to the colloquial chatter than a biography. In describing the qualities of Vilayat Khan, the book veers towards hagiographic tendencies and some descriptions are a bit larger than life than one can digest. Some themes are circuitous across chapters while some other aspects, like his rivalry with Ravi Shankar, could have been a bit more detailed. But these are only minor wrinkles in an otherwise excellent work. Namita Devidayal has done a great job in meticulously documenting the life of a fairly under-reported genius. My particular favorites are descriptions of Vilayat's life in Dehradun and Shimla, and the commentary on the art form and what it takes to be a great artist.

This book is a chronicle of the journey of Ustad Vilayat Khan from a fatherless adolescent to an immortal artist - someone who impacted his field both in aesthetics and practice. It is an account of what it takes to live a life devoted to art, and what that art can achieve for both the artist and its audience. With a ringside view of the life of one of India's greatest musicians, The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan makes you appreciate his legacy and brings you closer to the field of Indian classical music. A deeply enriching read in many ways.

[Jaideep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Namita's love of classical music with her ability to write well makes this book a wonderful read.
She has made it interesting and fascinating while bringing out the human side of the artist.
Again it was special for me because I met Vilayat Khan shaheb as a child and loved his music. Most of the people in the book are people I have known. The insights and nuances the author introduces were a revelation. If you love Hindustani classical, this book is a 'must read'.

[Purvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

with the flow of Music and beautiful reference of pure determination, this book is a Lovely description of the Mercurial Artist - reflecting not Only of his intriguing talented journey growing from Kolkata to Princeton, but also the journey of Indian Classical Music in a newly independent India. While this was a random takeaway from Book haul for me, I am glad to get to listen & visualise Music by 'the Sixth String of Vilayat Khan' & the quote that's surely going to be with me for a long time is: Backstories can change the filter of Perception ❣️

[Mallika Chandrasekhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Recommendation: The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan By Namita Devidayal

Anyone who has read Namita Devidayal's 'The Music Room' will unhesitatingly pick up this book too. One can never forget the after-effects of deep tenderness and great insight into the life of a singer and the struggle of being trained under one of the finest classical singers from the great legendary singer- Guru's, Alladiya Khan and Kesarbai Kerkar.
This book similarly comes as a well made and excellently kept promise of a riveting, engrossing and enlightening tale of one of the stalwarts of Sitar maestro's this world has ever known and heard.
Ustad Vilayat Khan comes alive in her effusive and mellifluous words. It starts like the slow 'alaap' of a musical composition. The facts of his legendary inheritance of music, sound, and elements of pure soul coursing through his blood and encoded in his genes. His grandfather, Ustad Imbad Khan, a sitar and a surbahar exponent was a court musician at the court of Mysore and Indore. He was the first sitar player to ever be recorded. Originally haling for a Rajput lineage, some of his descendants still continued to keep 'Nath Singh' to their names. Enayat Khan was trained along with his brother right from the start, and elevated himself, like his father before him to the exalted status of one of India's topmost sitarist. having lived for a short span of only 43 years, he still managed to leave an indelible mark in the world of music and introduced many unique and pioneering ways of designing the physical instruments as well as playing the strings.
Incomparable yet, undeniably the brightest star in the world of sitar, Vilayat Khan, his elder son, is the main musical piece of this written book. The'jhor' of the tale of sitar talent. His almost idyllic early childhood at the feet of his Guru father and the tutelage he received by ear often falling asleep on his father's lap mid-performance. His struggling almost penurious teenage years spent in the safe cocoon of "Delhi's 'All India Radio ' premises under the compassion guidance of Zulfikar Ali Bukhari, it's newly appointed station director. His whirlwind ascendance to world's finest, greatest and most admirable sitar player. And lastly, the 'jhala' of his story with his quiet retreat into a beautifully quaint space and place in Princeton, America.
This book is like another lyrical piece in ode of a musical genius, a maestro incomparable and an impossible endearing maverick the world has ever known. A befitting tribute. A worthy encomium.
Before you start to read this though, I would advise you to play one of his musical pieces to allow the absolute magic of his fingers on the sitar strings to percolate your inner senses. Then the greatness of the man and the soul of his music would seamlessly come alive within you.
Magnificant and extraordinary. The soulful sitar strains and strings and the legend himself.

(19-08-19@10.48am)

[Dhawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I am not from a family where music is taught and have not attended a classical music show, I am interested in Indian classical music. My interest in classical music grew after watching Bandish Bandits on Amazon prime video.
I belong to the generation where we listen to music on the go instead of devoting special time to listening to the same. Also, the duration of the songs is 3-5 minutes. Classical music would be played for hours. Majority of the public lack the patience required for this kind of music today.
In earlier days, there was Gharana music where the elders would pass their music knowledge to their family members. The child has to continue the tradition set by his ancestors and has to hold up to that name. Vilayat Khan was Ustaad Imdad Khan's son, a ruthless music enthusiast who was so committed to music that he didn't see his daughter who was dying until the 4 candles were out while practising. His father passed away when he was young. It is through great hardships he has suffered and conveyed that in music he has become great.
Vilayat Khan was raised a Muslim and was rarely without his prayer beads, but his devotion to the goddess Parvati embodied in raga Bhairavi was purer and more intense than any Hindu priest could have mustered. Only by listening to the sound of his car's engine could he identify whether there was an issue in the car.
After reading the complete book, I thought surely this is a personality lived by which I ought to have known. Being an Indian more so. The book is not written in chronological order. Different incidents are written in story form one after another. While reading the book, you move back and forth in his life.

[Harsha Raghuram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time and again it has been proven how difficult it is to put together a book about an Indian classical musician. Partly because it isn't always easy to get primary sources and partly because it is challenging to navigate through the clutter of myth that surrounds their persona. Namita has done a commendable job of introducing Vilayat Khan's life to the readers. This book paints a detailed picture of his vibrant life right from his childhood till the end. Several lovely anecdotes collected from multiple sources keep up the reader's interest throughout. Through Khansahib's life, the author explores the evolution of Sitar as a popular concert instrument, spread of sitar music to the west, the rivalry between Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan, and his persistent struggle to stand apart. 


It takes a few pages of reading to get into the groove. This has been my experience with 2 other books by the same publisher. They could improve their editing in general. For an Indian reader this book seems to try and pander to an international reader whereas for an international reader this may come across as too Indian; the author somehow balances the entire book on a shaky inconsistent middle ground. This too could have been resolved by a good editor.


The author herself writes that this is not strictly a biography and she takes some liberty in interpreting, even imagining at times, what would be on Khansahib's mind at times. Overall, a great book that should be read by everyone with an interest in Hindustani music.

[Rajesh Rahgir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in parts.

I always have been intrigued about Vilayat Khan Sahib's life, constantly across the platforms, i have found one theme common is his rivalry with contemporary Pt. Ravi Shankar. Wish this book would have gone more into the roots of the bitterness towards the government's selective in rewarding Ravi Ji compared to the mercurial Vilayat Khan sahib. Also, it could have explored more than what separated these two geniuses apart, which has been briefly touched upon by the book. Also, many chapters are repetitive about follies of his personality and his internal conflicts, fewer anecdotes also mar the narrative occasionally. The book which promises to discover the man, his relationships, and conflicts, somehow falls a bit short in this regard.

Still, I am going with four-star, why? Because I wanted to know about Khaan Saahib, and this book gives me a good glimpse into his life. And few chapters are superbly brilliant filled with development of his music, how he experimented with his craft as well as the Sitaar itself. Special mention to chapter: Bhairavi In America, exploring his love for Bhairavi.

Must read once !!

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan by Namita Devidayal during a fevered hush in the summer of 2022, the Covid summer — lungs crackling, silence booming, and every breath a negotiated treaty. It arrived on my Kindle like a tanpura's first pluck in an empty hall.

I wasn’t expecting a spiritual encounter, just something to pass time, but what unfolded was something more — a sitar-shaped memoir of artistic obsession, ego, inheritance, and longing that slowly transformed my convalescence into a kind of inward riyāz.

This is not a linear, date-by-date biography — Devidayal, ever the intuitive chronicler of music (as she was in The Music Room), opts instead for a scroll of moods and ragas that wind through Vilayat Khan’s stormy genius.

The great sitarist — son of Enayat Khan, rival of Ravi Shankar, father of Shujaat — comes to life not as myth or legend, but as a man of tantrums, talim, and terrifying precision. We see the boy orphaned too young, a genius practising until his fingers bled, a nightclub performer playing Bollywood tunes by night to buy milk, and a self-styled emperor of aesthetics who later, in Princeton exile, would scorn the Padma Bhushan as a governmental insult to his art. And yet, this isn’t a bitter book — it’s filled with music, with the scent of burning sandalwood and the fizz of Coke at a mehfil. It remembers how he made the sitar sing like a voice, seeking not notes, but kān — the shade of notes, the breath between them.

The “sixth string,” the metaphor at the heart of the book, is never fully explained — and that’s its genius. It is the invisible note, the aspirational emotion, the rasa beyond grammar. Vilayat Khan believed his mission was not to play music, but to inhabit it. That made him loved, feared, difficult — but never mediocre. Devidayal’s prose does justice to this paradox. She doesn’t hero-worship him blindly; rather, she composes with a kind of quiet gayaki herself — where each anecdote is a swara, each silence a khali.

Reading this book during my own battle with breathlessness gave it an extra resonance. There were pages — especially those describing Khan Saab’s long meend or his fury when microphones disrespected the delicacy of sound — where I found myself unconsciously syncing my inhalations with his phrasing. In those moments, the room became a mehfil, and my body, however fragile, an audience of one. The music teacher who first recommended this to me — Pandit Mallar Ghosh, son of the legendary Pandit Jayprakash Ghosh — had once said, “Vilayat Khan doesn’t play the sitar. He scolds it, flirts with it, sometimes bleeds for it. You have to listen with your ribs.” I didn’t understand him fully then. I do now.

If the book has flaws, they’re minor: a slightly reverential tone at times, a few women characters who pass like tanpura drones — present but rarely foregrounded — and a rivalry with Ravi Shankar that could have used more musical comparison than gossip. But these are not crimes in a book like this, which aims more to evoke than to dissect. It is, after all, a raag in prose — not a footnote-filled thesis.

What remains after reading is the quiet hum of presence — of a man who lived and played like a star exploding mid-note, who believed that the real award is the ability to move a listener into forgetting themselves.

During my Covid days, Vilayat Khan, through Devidayal’s words, did precisely that. I forgot the wheeze. I remembered the sur. And that, perhaps, is the sixth string: a soundless recognition of grace.

[Pankaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Namita has brought out aspects of Ustad Vilayat Khan's life and music, just like the ragas he played and sang - the gentle alaap to build up the content (the jor) leading to the climactic jhaalaa. Repetitive in parts because some incidents had to be reinforced contextually, it is nevertheless a painstaking and loving account of Ustad ji's tumultuous life - one that he lived on his own terms, without comprise. Most enjoyable reading; the pleasure being enhanced by listening to rag Bhairavi compositions by Vilayat sahib and other favourites by friends who featured prominently through his life - Amir Khan sahib in particular.

As Namita has said so exquisitely, "..... when his music elicited the "aah" of true wonder and gratitude, not merely the "wah" that comes with applause."

[Deja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mesmerising tale of a Mastero


It's a beautiful tale of a musician, his art, his maneerrism, achievements, highs, lows and fallacies. Any primary and intermediate student of Indian classical music will be under the spell of music while advance level student always felt that she should have talked more about his style in details and his contribution to Indian instrumental music more thoroughly. But people like me who are as much interested in storytelling , his persona and music this book fills the gap. This is the one of the best book I have read about any musician. it opens up with turning point of Vilayat Khan 's life and then we are introduced to Khan sahib's life in chronological way.

[Vampire Who Baked · Rating 4 out of 5]

there is no such thing as non-fiction: all writing is fictional at one level or another.

this is one of the best biographies i have read-- the life of ustad vilayat khan retold as a novel, rather than as a list of events set against their dates taken from an accountant's historical register. the writer takes you inside not just a person's life, but inside the world of music itself, the way it existed then-- not just the artists, not also the art.

the writer is a fantastic prosodist, and writes about music in a way that's moving and engrossing at the same time. she makes you think like ustad vilayat khan, and even if there are sometimes inconsistencies in the narrative or some details may not add up, you take it all in without complaint.

a truly wonderful read!

[Rahul Guha · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a treat reading this book. Khansahib was the colorful legend whose life is even more exciting to know. I grew up hearing legends about him and was lucky to be in his performance once. It was an experience beyond just music. This book touched all cords nicely.

I couldn't put this down after started. It was page turner but beautiful at same time.

Anybody interested in Indian music and an exciting prep internet era - this will be a treat.

[Mohamed Khaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly captures the Maestro

This is such a well-written book - Devidayal captures both the musical genius and the complex human being that the Ustad was. The insights that she brings as a music student are brilliant. This is an outstanding achievement, equal to her book Music Room on Dhondhutai Kulkarni.

[Ameet Poojara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would recommend to anyone interested in Indian Classical Music. The story of Vilayat Khan and his immediate family. Not a biography. Simple writing, conveying the era being talked about very well. Great information on the Indian Classical music scene of India in different times from before Independence till now. Lovely anecdotes and stories, both humourous and heartwarming.

[Saurabh Kumar]

Zero stars for this biography of a classical musician with its subtle yet profound anti-Hindu core. Three words to describe it? Utterly, bitterly dreadful! The author, Namita Devidayal is currently a journalist with the Times of India, but looking at her sophisticatedly concealed radical bent of mind you will soon see her working for Al-Jazeera.

[Neha Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devidayal is a pleasure to read and her reverence for art and the artist makes the reading and the portrayal of the subject a pleasure. Weaving past into a visual storytelling is her strength and keeps you hooked to the book. This was her third book for me and I look fwd to more.

Read the review here: https://storywala.blogspot.com/2021/0...

[Sayantan Nandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A life story of Vilayat Khan which captures the different seasons of his life where colour and sound, moods and emotion, genius and eccentricity come together to create the compelling tale of a musician who was arguably India's greatest sitar player (though not its most famous).

[Jagan K · Rating 4 out of 5]

For music lovers

A wonderful and uncompromising portrayal of one of the sitar greats. Very detailed account of the life of vilayat khan, his indulgences, artistry, points of view etc. Brilliantly written

[Kavita · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book you can spend a Sunday with. An amazingly reverent though easy read to the talent of Vilayat Khan and how one's calling can supersede human complications. Must, if you are a music fan, must, even if you are not one.

[Anand HS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was quite a page turner. Probably the only book that I have finished reading cover to cover in 6 days flat. Perhaps something to do with mercurial personality called Vilayat Hussain Khan! What an enigma.

[Devi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a life, what a time. Makes me nostalgic for something I never lived. I guess that's good writing.

Reading this book breathed new motivation and life into my riyaz, and I'll likely turn to it again.

[Shantanu Maskeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully written tale of the Maestros life. The author captures the pain and pleasure of the narcissistic eccentric genius and all the people in his life.

This book is as beautiful as the Bhairavi!

[amit deshpande · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will come-in soon!!

[Manju Bhandary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book.

[Ninad Acharya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captures the life of a great artist brilliantly!

[Priyankar Sarkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading the biography of the maestro! Anyone who is an aficionado of Hindustani Classical Music will enjoy this book.

[Sudarsan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Critically written. My first book Hindustani classical music. Must read for Indian classical music aficionados.