Tirumughal Begum

Tirumughal Begum: The Queen of Music by Lathalakshmi is a profoundly lyrical and insightful novel on art, life and relationships. Adrikanya, the protagonist whose passion for music helps her overcome every obstacle to her study of music including her musician-father's initial objection, passes through the different seasons of love, jealousy, loneliness and renunciation. When the musician Mahadev who falls in love with her and marries her proves unfaithful with many of his admirers turning into his ephemeral partners in love and he himself grows jealous of his wife's superior talent, she leaves him and after a period of intense solitude weds another man who loves and cares for her. But when he too dies, she decides to give up music altogether except for teaching some talented young musicians and leads an austere life of renunciation and solitude. While Hindustani music seems being played all along in the background of the narrative, this beautiful novel is more about love, desire, faith, jealousy, relationships, dedication, commitment and spiritual solitude. A deeply suggestive and poetic masterpiece from a highly talented fiction writer of the middle generation in Malayalam. - K. Satchidanandan