I absolutely love music, but...

Well, music is certainly portrayed in what initially appears to be a positive light, as shown in a passage where the book, in Aloka's point of view, describes the joy that it instills in her:

"Music had always been a passion of hers and even now she practiced every week. Music helped her come in touch with her many emotions." (20)

Aloka and Pranab fall for each other (or at first) in large part due to their common passion for music. Aloka and Pranab enjoy playing traditional instruments and singing more traditional Indian music. Through music and melodic, lyrical words, they express to each other their romance to each other.

Despite the overflow of passion and emotion that music instills in Aloka and Pranab, it must be kept in mind that firstly, Aloka had pursued music partly because of her grandmother, Nina:

"A more likely explanation of Grandma's generosity might have been that the marriage potential of a girl in the present society improved if she could sing. Grandma had made sure that Aloka, throughout her adolescence, was given extensive training, and it had paid off handsomely.Theses days, whenever friends and relatives gathered, Aloka was asked to perform." (47-48)

Also, Aloka, as Sujata puts it, is the more popular of the two sisters, and more accepted by the traditions of Indian society:

"And from the family's point of view it was heartening that when the itme came for Aloka to take over the tea estate, the experienced and capable Pranab would be there to see that the operation ran smoothly. What better person for the job? Sujata rankled that there appeared to be no place for her in this blissful picture." (30)

The more opinionated and reserved Sujata is marginalized by her society, whereas Aloka fits in perfectly-- her expertise in music does plenty to help. While music gives Aloka freedom, it seems to suppress the less musically able Sujata. But at the same time, as Aloka is raised to be the perfect Indian wife, music truly serves as a more traditional and almost superficial role into the lives of the characters.While that emphasizes the importance of music to Indian culture, it forces Aloka into a specific role that she is expected to play to maintain her status-- a requisite that she soon dismisses later in the book.