Fakirs, nawabs, pundits, even pucca sahibs couldn't resist Begum Akhtar's charm, if not her voice. Begum Akhtar: love's own voice tracks the tempestuous life of one of India's original singing divas

A few days before she passed away, Begum Akhtar left her personal belongings (including a diary that had names of her closest friends), with the son of an old friend. He was a devotee called Saleem Kidwai, a history professor at Delhi University who helped author S Kalidas, once art editor with India Today, explore the world of the tawaif who rose to become one of India's most prolific singers specialising in Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri.



Begum Akhtar: Love's Own Voice traces Akhtaribai's life that started in Faizabad near Ayodhya, home also to Mirza Hadi Ruswa's heroine Umrao Jaan, following her to the streets of Mumbai where she acted in movies like Mehboob Khan's Roti, to her kotha in the Cheena Bazaar area of Lucknow. Replete with black and white photographs, the book weaves anecdotes that her admirers and close friends share, painting a picture of the singer who was at once naughty, generous, talented and depressed.

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