Bismillah Khan: The Maestro From Benaras

Juhi Sinha’s appraisal of Bismillah Khan’s life and work is that rare thing: a critical biography. Singularly devoid of the hagiographic aura that typically surrounds most writing on music in India, Sinha’s book portrays the shehnai maestro as a man of many avatars — a musician par excellence, a benign autocrat, a loving patriarch, a devout Muslim sworn to secular ideals, a mercenary artist, and yet, also a man committed to a frugal, fakir-like existence.

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