In the book, retold by Nagchowdhury, legendary singer Ramkumar Chattopadhyay’s narrates his life and times, recounting his grooming in the world of music and his rendezvous with the stars in the music world.

Chattopadhyay, an exponent of toppa and various other classical forms of music, was born in Kolkata in 1921. The legend, who gave “Puratani” songs a different class, died in March last year.

The book, published by Sahityam, a Kolkata-based publishing house, was released in the Kolkata Book Fair on February 5 by eminent singer Arati Mukherjee.

“Ramkumarda was not merely a singer, but a personification of Kolkata of yesteryears — its babu culture. In fact, whenever I have spent some time with him, I learnt something about the city and its quest for life,” Mukherjee said.

The author, who took great pains in writing down the notes, said it was a fabulous experience for her to meet the legend and write the book.

Nagchowdhury works for a renowned Bengali daily and was assigned the task by her publishing house to write the book.