#TheSecretMaster – Pandit Arun Kashalkar, Khayal & Mumbai I Literary and musical event with Sumana Ramanan & Sugandha Laturkar
Pandit Arun Kashalkar is one of the most accomplished and charismatic figures specialising in khayal, one of the Indian subcontinent's most scintillating music genres, the very name of which means ‘imagination.’ Yet he performs on the fringes of the mainstream Hindustani music ecosystem in Mumbai, which has been the epicentre of the art form since the early twentieth century. He is part of a wider underground scene that has been preserving this music in its most vibrant colours. At our literary and musical event, #TheSecretMaster, Sumana Ramanan, author of the book The Secret Master: Arun Kashalkar and a Journey to the Edge of Music, published by Westland Books’ Context imprint, will provide a rare glimpse into Mumbai’s hidden but vibrant underground culture of Hindustani music and the art, life and milieu of one of its most accomplished and charismatic vocalists. She will trace the little-known history of how the centre of gravity of khayal moved during the end-19th and early 20th centuries from the Delhi area to the Mumbai region. She will also guide listeners through khayal’s key aesthetic principles through a live recital by singer Sugandha Laturkar, a senior student of Pandit Arun Kashalkar, whose style combines the Gwalior, Agra and Jaipur traditions, three of today’s six main gharanas.
About the presenters
Sumana Ramanan is an award-winning journalist. In a career spanning three-and-a-half decades, she has worked for leading media organisations as an investigative reporter, feature writer, foreign correspondent, senior editor and columnist. She is drawn to hidden histories, narrative non-fiction and dark chocolate. For several years, she helped curate a prominent literature festival. She lives in Bengaluru, but has one foot in Mumbai, where she grew up and worked for a major part of her life. Her work can be found at www.sumanaramanan.in.
Sugandha Laturkar is among the finest khayal singers of her generation, combining three leading styles, namely Gwalior, Agra and Jaipur. She is an A-grade artist of All India Radio. She began her musical training at the age of five, learning first from her father, followed by two gurus in eastern Maharashtra. In high school, she began training with Subhash Kashalkar and since 2011 she has been a student of Arun Kashalkar, the protagonist of The Secret Master. She has an MSc in botany, an MA in music and an Alankar from the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. She will be accompanied on the tabla by Praveen Karkare and on the harmonium by Dnyaneshwar Sonawane.