scorecardresearch
Add as a preferred source on Google
Monday, March 16, 2026
TopicGauhar Jaan

Topic: Gauhar Jaan

Gauhar Jaan to Azurie, women led India’s cultural revolution—this Delhi exhibit celebrates them

‘Pathbreakers 2.0’, on display till 26 April at Delhi’s IHC, delves into the lives of India’s earliest women artistes who broke the glass ceiling in their respective fields.

Tawaifs weren’t just into art and culture. Their role in Independence remains forgotten

When the British Raj encountered Tawaifs—women with agency and autonomy—they were confounded and threatened, unable to categorise this community within their social divisions.

Janki Bai, singer disfigured by 56 stab wounds sold more records than her contemporaries

Janki Bai not only trained in music and dance, but also learnt English, Sanskrit and Persian, and wrote a collection of Urdu poetry.

Bangalore Nagarathnamma, the singer who took to Sanskrit and feminism in 19th Century India

European record companies participated with artists like Nagarathnamma, a devadasi, at a time Indian society hounded them in name of morality.

Hindustani vocalist Abdul Karim Khan’s music has special relevance in these communal times

Listening to Abdul Karim Khan at the age of 11, Bhimsen Joshi is said to have made up his mind that this was how real music ought to be.

Salem Godavari, Carnatic vocalist who fought superstitions to record erotic compositions

Salem Godavari is a forgotten footnote and sadly evokes no memory in Carnatic musicians or connoisseurs.

Gauhar Jaan, India’s first record artist, took Rs 3,000 a session & threw parties for her cat

Gramophone’s search for ‘native’ voices in 1900s brought it to India’s Gauhar Jaan, who would go on to have 600 records to her name.

On Camera

Gulf conflict pushes Dubai diamond traders to eye Surat for rough stone auctions. But there are hurdles

Industry leaders say India’s complicated customs process and GST levies are deterrents for traders to come to Surat for auctions.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba, the man Iran must keep alive & the secret force ‘tasked with it’—all about NOPO

The Nirouyeh Vijeh Pasdaran Velayat, or NOPO, was the only force Ali Khamenei trusted.It was founded in 1991 and is more feared than the Revolutionary Guards.

Peaceful power transfers followed uprisings in India’s neighbourhood. It’s a sign of mature democracies

Rating democracies is a tricky business. I am only using the simple metric of who in the Indian subcontinent has had the most peaceful, stable, normal political transitions and continuity.