Echoes of the Eternal Note: Reclaiming Ancient Indian Musical Wisdom in Neelum Saran Gour's : Requiem in Raga Janki

Neelum Saran Gour’s Requiem in Raga Janki (2018) reimagines the life of Hindustanivocalist Janki Bai Ilahabadi as a literary meditation on the epistemology of Indian clas-sical music. This paper argues that Gour’s narrative reclaims ancient Indian musicalwisdom through the interwoven concepts of n¯ada brahma (sound as the divine), guru–śi?ya parampar¯a (lineage-based pedagogy), and rasa (aesthetic emotion). By employingclose textual analysis supported by interdisciplinary perspectives from aesthetics, eth-nomusicology, and decolonial theory, the study examines how Gour’s prose transformsmusical practice into an ethical and cognitive act. Through lyrical language, mythic al-lusion, and embodied descriptions of riy¯az and performance, the novel positions music asa holistic mode of knowing—uniting art, morality, and spirituality. The paper contendsthat Requiem in Raga Janki not only commemorates a forgotten female artist but alsoarticulates an alternative epistemology that resists commodification and cultural erasure.In foregrounding music as moral formation and aesthetic pedagogy, the study highlightsits relevance to contemporary debates on cultural sustainability, mental well-being, anddecolonized knowledge practices.