Sheila Dhar (1929 – 26 July 2001) was an Indian author and singer of

Kirana gharana The Kirana Gharana is a Hindustani music apprenticeship tradition (''gharana'') made popular by Bande Ali Khan in the 19th Century and his cousins Abdul Karim Khan and Abdul Wahid Khan. Evolved from the instrumental and vocal Gauharbani dhru ...

. She is known for her writings about music and musicians, which included three books. She also taught English literature and language at

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. She was the wife of P. N. Dhar, an economist and an advisor of Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

Early life

Sheila Belongs to a Mathur

Kayastha Kayastha (or Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Ka ...

family.Sheila published a book - ''Raga'n Josh'' - about the lifestyle of her Mathur

community s in the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

of the 1940s and '50s providing a glimpse of the old Delhi, which included her experiences with life in bureaucracy and anecdotes from the lives of musicians like

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was a Pakistani vocalist, from the Kasur Patiala Gharana.

Kesarbai Kerkar Kesarbai Kerkar (13 July 1892 – 16 September 1977) was an Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. A protege of Ustad Alladiya Khan (1855–1946), the founder of the gharana, from age sixteen, she went on to become one of t ...

, Pran Nath, and

Begum Akhtar Akhtari Bai Faizabadi (7 October 1914 – 30 October 1974), also known as Begum Akhtar, was an Indian singer and actress. Dubbed "Mallika-e-Ghazal" (Queen of Ghazals), she is regarded as one of the greatest singers of ghazal, dadra, and thu ...

. After dropping out of

Lady Hardinge Medical College Lady Hardinge Medical College, also known as LHMC, is a public medical college and central government hospital located in New Delhi, India. Established in 1916, it became part of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi in 1950. The ...

, Sheila joined Hindu College and was the top of Delhi University English Honours batch in 1950. She was awarded a Summa Cum Laude for her M.A. by

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

following which she taught Literature for a short while at

Miranda House Miranda House is a constituent college for women at the University of Delhi in India. Established in 1948, it is one of the top ranked colleges of the country and ranked number 1 for consecutively seven years (as of 2023). History Miranda ...

, and then joined the Government's Publications Division. Two books penned by Sheila Dhar reveal insights into the world of Hindustani classical music and its practitioners.

Bibliography

*Children's History of India (1961) *This India (1973) *Here's Someone I'd Like You to Meet (1995) *Raga'n' Josh *Tales of Innocents, Musicians and Bureaucrats

References

External links

* 1929 births 2001 deaths Kashmiri women singers Kashmiri people Kashmiri Pandits Boston University alumni Hindustani singers Delhi University alumni Place of birth missing 20th-century Indian singers Women Hindustani musicians Indian women classical singers 20th-century Indian women singers Kashmiri women writers {{India-writer-stub