A Monsoon Of Music by Mitra Phukan (Book Review)

Title: A Monsoon Of Music

Author: Mitra Phukan

ISBN : 978-9-381-01700-5

Price: 450/-

"A Monsoon Of Music" made my mind refreshed, after the couple of books what I read before. My first read on 'Musical Fiction', what I shall call it, as the novel is entirely based on the world of music mainly highlighting the Hindustan Classical music tradition. The minute detail of the musical heritage and the keen observance of how the musical world may look from inside, are literarily appreciated and a good read for the novices like me, who have a very little knowledge about how a musical professional world might look like. With the backdrop of the classical music, the writer skillfully develops the main story which can be defined as a twofold triangle love story. A generation gap has been highlighted but love doesn't know the language of age. Love is evergreen from generation to generation, from decade after decade.

What always looks perfect is not perfect at all. And that the story unfolds when the darker secrets of the life of the characters reveal slowly. Nomita the main protagonist, is a Hindustani vocal artist who lives in small town named Tamulbari and aspires very little to get famed over the top. Her Guruma is a renowned Hindustani classical vocalist and married to another famous Hindustani classical vocalist. Both look like their pair is made in heaven. Both look gorgeous and serene. The simplicity in them never blows the air of their illustriousness. On the other hand Nomita who dwells in the life between the two world one through her guruma, what she entirely wants to believe to be meant for her and the other world what she sees through her childhood best friend Rahul's eyes where Hindustan classical music is replaced by the contemporary light weighted music. When she is in rahul's world she loves to taste the new rhythm and to tap her feet with it, the jovial life of her friend makes her to feel a new kind of ecstatic amalgamation which leaves her aspiring classical world far behind. Nomita's two world dilemmas became more constrict when her alliance suddenly get fixed with ambitious sitarist Kaushik Kashyapa, a globe-trotting superstar in the Hindustani Classical music world. The thought that two people with same ambition and from same field, makes life more easy to live like, confronted with the famous notion that two opposite poles attract more than anything and make things better than ever. Nomita tried utmost to accept the world of Kaushik Kashyapa where she also belongs to. But Rahul's world and Rahul's thought always comes in front as a path blocker. Still she is totally unaware of the fact that she is in love with Rahul. She tries hard to love Kaushik Kashyap. On the other hand Rahul the IT guy also never showed in his sense that he is madly love with Nomita. His maturity and respect to the family make him a perfect human being and the most admiring character of the novel.

Here the two fold triangle relationships start where Guruma reveals the truth to Nomita that she is deeply in love with her friend Deepak Rathor, an Industrialist, before her marriage whose world is totally different from her world. And the relationship what she is keeping with her husband is the most non perfect relationship hovering around. There is no love in the relationship but a kind of respect that they have for each other. The rumor about her and Deepak Rathor is true. She finds the solace of love in Deepak Rathor. This revelation of the truth of Guruma put a light on the second fold of triangle relationship, which is also telling the same story more or less of the Guruma's. Nomita's heart opens where she finds only one name is written that is of Rahul.

Let me keep the rest untold to hold back the suspense of the novel.

This is a good read for me as I told earlier. One will get a thorough knowledge of what a classical musical world may look like. On the same stream it also shows the darker side of this world what often we the people from the common world are missing out. Mitra Phukan being an Assamese vocalist of the Hindustani classical music tradition, a writer, music critic and also a columnist , has given circumstantially the accurate detail of the ragas, the musical instruments, the musicians gestures during the performance, everything what is really knowledgeable to the people belongs to the nonmusical world. At the same time the story set up and the character portrayals need to be apprised.

[This review has been published HERE & HERE.]