LOOKING FOR MISS SARGAM (HARDCOVER)
After thousands of hours of training and practice, the gods of music smile upon the deserving few. Genius shines; melody and goodness reign supreme; and all is right with the world. What happens, for instance, when a cunning PR brain brings together two star musicians from India and Pakistan in a concert for peace. . . Or when a Hindustani vocalist, long denied a foreign tour, flies from Pune to Philadelphia. Or when a small-town music teacher and a big-city businessman team up to plan a hunt for India's best new classical talentand make a few crores in the process. . . How does it all end when a harmonium player desirous of a Padma Shri award comes to a powerful ustad for a recommendation. Or when a Bollywood director calls a classical singer, offering to make her a sensation, like the mysterious Miss Sargam whom no one hears anymore but everyone remembers. . . And is it really a good idea for an old-world recording company to reinvent itself for the twenty-first century, or a devotee of a pious godwoman to compose songs for Hollywood.