Looking for Miss Sargam: Stories of Music and Misadventure

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.Or is it?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 talent—and 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?In this her debut work of fiction one of India’s finest and most original musicians has produced a sparkling collection—utterly distinctive hugely entertaining and mercilessly funny.