Mumbai, Feb. 16 -- There are several regrets in my life; one of them is not having listened to Ustad Vilayat Khan live in concert. For many like me who had no access to the maestro and for others who perhaps did, a book like Namita Devidayal's The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan becomes imperative. At the beginning, the author states her intention when she declares, "I have tried to create an impressionistic fluid portrait of a magnificent artiste and a fragmented human being." Biographies in India and particularly those dealing with performing artists are often hagiographic. So it was reassuring to read that the author has no illusions about her subject. Vilayat Khan's story has the tropes of the normative rags-to-riches saga. He lost his father, the celebrated Enayat Khan in childhood. His mother, Basheeran Begum, was a disciplinarian who held the family together. In many ways, this book is also her story - a single woman who carved the careers of her illustrious sons. To escape her harsh regimen, Vilayat ran away to Delhi where he was sheltered by Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari at All India Radio. He heard recordings of old masters and met many maestros here. Later, he also learnt from his maternal grandfather and uncle in Saharanpur for long stretches. Various streams thus assimilate in his musical training shaping a unique sensibility. Replete with highs and lows, Vilayat Khan's life reads like a film script with numerous affairs, a failed first marriage, a constrained relationship with his children, the falling out with brother Imrat, his rivalry with Pandit Ravi Shankar, and his proximity with spiritual leader Jagjit Singh. Vilayat Khan is also presented as an exhibitionist who loved to show off his brand new Mercedes, coaxed friends into organising parties, enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the elite, and rehearsed his concert look, amongst many other anecdotes. He was extremely conservative in his attitude to women and wanted his daughters to look and dress a certain way. Other stories of his gargantuan ego are also narrated with great flair. Devidayal presents a man easy to despise and difficult to admire. But she offers very little insight into his music. Bits of personal trivia make for interesting reading but they don't explain how the flawed man became a celebrated artist. This is a major shortcoming. Devidayal writes, "He had experienced inordinate pain, but he also believed that sadness was crucial to music." Such baffling statements are not an objective analysis of his music....