Thursday, June 23 2005 12:33 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The only female surbahar player in the country, Annapurna Devi, is a musician in her own right. Yet few have listened to her, thanks to "jealous" husband, Pt Ravi Shankar, who did not allow her to sing in public, a new book reveals.

"Ravi was justifiably jealous. And so he elicited a vow from his (first) wife that she would no longer play in public," says the first authorised biography of Annapurna Devi, a legend, who has led a reclusive life and stayed away from public performances for several years.

"There are many versions of this anecdote afloat, mostly apocryphal. Annapurna, however, told me that something worse had happened than Ravi attempting to make her take this oath".

But she added that she would divulge it to none, says that "Author Swapan Kumar Bandhopadhyay, in the book 'An Unheard Melody: Annapurna Devi, An Authorised Biography."

Bandhopadhyay, one of her disciples, says this was bound to happen "if the husband and wife share the same profession. It is the male ego. For Ravi Shankar, it was worse. He was ambitious and ego centric, he would not allow anyone to rule the world. Truly, he was the sun and loved to shine alone in the sky. So perhaps he decided to take her away from public performances."

Though it is difficult to find out whether she actually played better than Ravi Shankar, however, a look at the photographs of the mehfils in which Annapurna played showed her totally absorbed in her playing and Ravi Shankar looking admiringly at her, says the author.

"Even listening to their jugalbandi in Raga Yaman, one feels that Annapurna sounds more focussed. The bass of the surbahar, the undulating meends spanning five notes, the high seriousness of approach and flawless execution leaves one spellbound," he says.

Bandhopadhyay says he has not solely restricted himself to her point of view; at best my book is a search for Annapurna. It is a search for the elusive musician and her contributions to the rich heritage of Hindustani classical music.

But the task was not that easy. He says he initially thought of Annapurna Devi as a woman whose difficult life had turned her into a claustrophobic individual with hysterical and suicidal tendencies.

It is not easy to get into the home of an artiste whose door carries bell ringing instructions and a warning that the door will not be opened on Mondays and Thursdays, he says but 12 years of knowing her completely changed his opinion.

He stresses her warm, human qualities. He writes, "After her son departed for the US, she began to take selected disciples to whom she imparted the musical heritage of Baba Allaudin Khan. She would teach them individually without taking any remuneration. She fed them and took care of their accommodation".

Annapurna Devi, or Ma as her students call her, is guru to stalwarts like flutists Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Nityanand Haldipur, late Sitar maestro Nikhil Banerjee, Basant Kabra and others.

Music legend Baba Allaudin Khan's daughter, Pandit Ravi Shankar's first wife and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan's sister, Annapurna Devi has an illustrious lineage.