That said, the decision to print the index, which would be constantly used in a book like this, in microscopic type is hard to understand. Also the same glaring lacuna which was present in the earlier two auto-biographies, continues in this volume also. That is that the biography of a legendary, well-recorded musician, does not contain a discography. Given that the records have been issued & re-issued under different numbers, there is nothing to prevent them being listed, containing the year of recording, ragas contained & the record numbers (all versions, if necessary.) After all the musical legacy of Panditji is contained in these priceless records. Even though recordings are listed in the microscopically printed index, they do not give the names of the ragas nor the record numbers.
Also Panditji issued his first records in 78 rpm Shellac records, which were subsequently re-issued on 45 rpm EP records, LP record & finally on CD. These little gems need to be listened to. Also for a comprehensive book like this, there is no mention of a French recording containing Ragas Puriya Kalyan, Purvi Kalyan & a Dhun (which was sold in India also) & a CD "Ravi Shankar in Venice", which is hard to come by, but contains the only performance of his own creation "Raga Shailangi."
Another noteworthy feature is many of Panditji's contemporaries are dealt with, but perfunctory attention is paid to Nikhil Banerjee, his gurubhai. This may not be surprising, because even though Swapan Bandopadhyay's book on Annapurna Devi is listed in the bibliography, the same author's book on Nikhil Banerjee is not listed. It is a pity because that book throws additional light on the ragas which both Ravi Shankar & Nikhil Banerjee claimed as their own creations.
Incidentally, the Nikhil Banerjee biography contains a discography, whereas Ravi Shankar's & Vilayat Khan's (by Namitha Devidayal) do not contain one.
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