Band, Baaja, Bhava

Why does a single note make you cry? Why do you remember every word of a song you haven't heard in twenty years? Why does a wedding baaja on the street stop you mid-stride? Band, Baaja, Bhava answers the questions you never knew you had about the music that surrounds you every day. Carnatic vocalist and educator Chitra Srikrishna takes you on a journey across India's musical landscape – ragas, kritis, folk songs, ghazals, Bollywood hits, and everything in between – not as a history lesson, but as a way of understanding why this music has such a hold on you. Written with warmth, wit, and three decades of performance insight, this is the book for anyone who has ever hummed along without knowing why, felt a raga in their chest before understanding a word of it, or wondered what actually makes a melody unforgettable. Whether you grew up on Carnatic concerts, film songs, or just the sounds of your neighbourhood, this book will change the way you listen – for good. With a foreword by Shankar Mahadevan