The White Mogul

A teenage boy runs away from the national service in Germany. In ’Swinging London’ Indian sitar music seems to be an interesting option in his quest for self-exploration. Nineteen-year-old German Hans von der Thann starts out from the chaos of the Flower Power in London and moves on to India to follow an eccentric music master who has mesmerized him with his music.

A teenage boy runs away from the national service in Germany. In ’Swinging London’ Indian sitar music seems to be an interesting option in his quest for self-exploration. Nineteen-year-old German Hans von der Thann starts out from the chaos of the Flower Power in London and moves on to India to follow an eccentric music master who has mesmerized him with his music. “Khan-Sahib – the sitar ...” The Khan-Sahib knew what he meant by ´the sitar´, knew well the exact amount that was still owed and gave him an irritated look. Orp Bennerji, ashen and sweating, came rushing in. “The raid! They are down on the first floor! They are here!” Nizam froze. But the shock lasted only for a moment. He ran into the bedroom and came back with the suitcase, the jute bags, and the chandelier. What starts out as a fun trip into an exotic universe soon turns into a forbidding maelstrom of ecstasy and obsession, of exploitation and abandon, of bliss and despair. In London and Bombay of the late 60s and early 70s dangerous and wondrous encounters unfold. Scenes of folly, cunning and deceit are inescapably interwoven – right up to the final act. Al Gromer Khan takes us through the late sixties of the twentieth century and the withering flower power in London to Bombay, the India of Indira Gandhi´s state of emergency, where the exotic, on a human level, very soon doesn´t seem so outlandish. His protagonist, who has his mind set on reaching the source of his inspiration, meets representatives of various levels of human endeavours on his adventurous journey – all of them linked by their darker side.

Al Gromer Khan was born in Germany. At seventeen he left home to become a Beat poet and jazz musician. In London, England, where he lived for six years, he maintained close friendships with many musicians and artists, among them Ronnie Scott the jazz saxophonist, Mike Figgis the film maker, and Cat Stevens the pop star. It was in London that he met his sitar teacher Ustad Imrat Khan. In India he became a student in the Vilayat Khan / Imrat Khan Gharana. In 1975 the ghandaband ceremony with Imrat Khan took place. Travel and concerts in Europe and India followed. To this day Al Gromer Khan practises daily on his instrument. As a composer and producer he developed a new style of Ambient music – his ´Paisley Music´, which has found a worldwide following. In 2006 he wrote the novel ´Jazz Christmas´, and in 2007 ´Jimi of Silence´, 2009 ‘Der weiße Mogul’, 2011 e-book ‘Jazzchristmas’. Since 1990 he has also written music documentaries for a number of national radio stations.