"To me, his genius and his humanity can only be compared to that of Mozart's." ~ Yehudi Menuhin
Part 1: His Genius & His Humanity
Even at this age, the legendary Bengali master musician's genius and greatness is without equal. His recent concert at the Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi, along with his already famous teenage daughter Anoushka, was a fund-raiser for the Gujarat earthquake victims. He proved it yet once again that music can do a lot for humankind - it not only delights but also wipes away the tears of the unfortunate. The sitar guru plucked his "strings of relief" for the sufferers and reiterated that he is a singular phenomenon in the world of music.
From "Panditji" to "Sir"
On March 27, 2001, Ravi Shankar was bestowed with an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellence Order of the British Empire at an investiture ceremony by British High Commissioner in India Sir Rob Young at his official residence in New Delhi. "My heart is so full that I can hardly speak", the octogenarian genius said. "I wish I could play the sitar to express my gratitude to the Lord Almighty and to my guru…For Her Majesty, the Queen of England, I wish I could just shout loud enough to send one little message - Thank You," said a joyful Ravi Shankar.
The British High Commission in a release said, "No one has done more than Ravi Shankar to promote the understanding and love of Indian classical music in the West, and in particular in Britain. This is a most fitting way of honouring an outstanding musician who is deeply respected in my country and indeed all over the world".
Awards & Honours
At 80, Ravi Shankar has a bagful of prestigious awards and honours - both national and international, including fourteen honorary doctorates, the Padma Vibhushan, Desikottam, the Magsaysay Award (Philippines), two Grammy's, Silver Bear Award (Berlin), the Fukuoka Grand Prize (Japan), the Crystal Award (Davos), the title 'Global Ambassador', and the Padma Bhushan. In 1986 he was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the Lower House of Indian Parliament.
Pandit Ravi Shankar is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and also of the United Nations International Rostrum of composers. He is a Fellow of the Sangeet Natak Academy - the Indian Music & Drama Authority, and is also the Founder President of Ravi Shankar (Research) Institute for Music and Performing Arts (RIMPA). He has also author two books - My Music, My Life, in English and Rag Anurag in Bengali.
Part II: Down Melody Lane
Ravi Shankar was born on April 7, 1920 in a Bengali Brahmin family settled in Varanasi, the holy city on the banks of the Ganges. His father was an eminent barrister, and his family was full of artistes — all his brothers being achievers in different spheres of performing arts. Robu, as he was called lovingly, was the youngest son, and at the age of ten he accompanied his elder brother — the world famous dancer Uday Shankar — to Paris with his troupe of gifted dancers and musicians. He attended school in Paris, and initiated himself in the world of dance and music.
The Early Years
When he was 15, Uday Shankar invited the great sarod virtuoso Ustad Allauddin Khan to join his troupe, and Ravi Shankar, mesmerized by his genius, became his disciple. This made Ravi to return to India and spend years in intense study and practice under Allauddin Khan, whose guidance and guardianship helped him master the sitar. Thereafter, Ravi Shankar joined the All India Radio, established the National Chamber Orchestra, and by 1955 he became one of the most sought-after musicians in India. In 1956, he debuted as a sitarist in the European and American stage, which began his conquest of the West.
Memories of His Mother
Reminiscing about his Mom, Ravi Shankar writes in his autobiography: "...The day came when we were due to sail, and we all felt the sadness of the departure. My mother, who had come to Bombay to see us off, was going to remain in India, and already, she was feeling the loneliness of our absence. Somehow, she and I both had the premonition that we might not see each other again. While we stood on the pier, getting ready to go aboard the ship, she took my hand and put it in Baba's hand and told him, "I'm not going with you, and I don't know if I'll ever see my child again, so please take him and consider him as your own son." We all had tears in our eyes as we said goodbye, and as it happened, it was the last time I saw my mother.
"We finished our last tour and the troupe returned to India in May, 1938. While we were still in Paris, in the fall of 1936, a telegram arrived from India informing us of the death of our mother…The news greatly saddened us, and me especially, because I had seen her so little since she returned to India in 1932."
Boyhood Leisure
The only entertainment Robu had was "...going for walks along the river or on the lovely hillside, for there were no cinemas or "city" diversions. Often Ali Akbar accompanied me, and we would spend hours walking and discussing all our ideas…We would return to the house by dark and all have dinner about seven-thirty, then spend a few more hours practicing."
Part III: The Long Training Years
"Music is transmitted from a heart to another heart and taking up a guru was the most important decision of my life." ~ Ravi Shankar
Behind the Ravi Shankar magic is long years of dedicated practice and study under the tutelage of his illustrious guru Baba Allaudin Khan. In his autobiography, My Music My Life, the Maestro says about his guru "Baba" and his training years:
"…I took my sitar, trembling and apprehensive, and crossed the little garden to Baba's house, where we would work for two or three hours. Sometimes he gave me a very difficult thing to learn, and the lesson would take only half an hour; then, I would go and practice for another hour or two, trying to play it properly. Baba realized immediately that, mentally, I was quite advanced in the music. But my hands were far behind, because I had spent so little time learning and practicing the basics. I used to hate the scales and exercises; it was a spiritual torture to me, because my hands could never catch up to the idea of the music inside my head. I went through months of depression when I felt I was getting nowhere, but when my technique improved, I learned extremely quickly.
The Influence of Baba Allaudin Khan
"…He knew how serious I was about learning instrumental music, and I got him to begin teaching me the basics of sitar and voice. Sometimes, he would become upset and grow angry...Tauntingly, he called me a "butterfly" and made some very cruel remarks about my constant girl-chasing, my dandy tastes in clothing, and all my other interests outside music - painting, writing, and reading. He often said, "Ek sadhe sab sadhe, sab sadhe sab jaye," [Bengali] which means if you do one thing properly and very well, then all other things will come easily later, but if you start with too much, you end up with nothing.
"All the same, Baba enjoyed teaching me and I knew it. When he was nice to me, as he usually was, I learned very quickly and well, but when he was angry, I got stubborn, thickheaded, and dull and refused to learn. It must have been because I had never been scolded by anyone, even as a little child.
Seven Years Under the Guru
Ravi Shankar took his sitar lessons for about seven years in the traditional guru-shishya style, in a highly disciplined and isolated environment, marked by almost godly veneration for the guru.
"Most often, Baba taught me alone; but later Ali Akbar, and sometimes his sister Annapurna, would join me for the sessions. Ali Akbar and I became very close, even though I was two years older than he…Ali Akbar told me he had been compelled to practice for 14 to 16 hours every day, and there were times when Baba tied him to a tree for hours and refused to let him eat if his progress was not satisfactory. Ali Akbar was born with music in his veins, but it was this constant rigorous discipline and riaz (Urdu for "practice") that Baba set for him that has made Ali Akbar one of the greatest instrumentalists alive.
"…After I had made some progress with my music there was a period of several years when the three of us - Ali Akbar, Annapurna, and I - all sat with Baba and learned from him together. He would start to teach us, singing such serious and beautiful raga as Lalit, Multani, Yaman Kalyan, Bihag, Mian ki Malhar, Darbari Kanada, and sometimes he would just go on teaching for three or four hours and lose all perception of the passage of time. Many times we cried because of the intense beauty of the music, and no one would think of disturbing the spell…"
Ravi Shankar, in 1941, married his guru's daughter Annapurna and the following year had a son by her - Subho Shankar. The two separated a few year after that.
Part IV: East Meets West
"Music is one language I know." ~ Ravi Shankar
Pandit Ravi Shankar is a performer, composer, teacher and writer — all rolled into one. He has ridden the crest of popularity for over three decades now while contributing a golden chapter to the annals of Hindustani classical music. According to many, he has single handedly done more for the Indian music than any other musician, so much so that his time will always be known as the Ravi Shankar Era.
Ravi Shankar's Greatest Achievement
Ravi Shankar's greatest achievement was perhaps his success in popularizing Indian music in the West. In fact, he devoted a major part of his life in cultural exchanges and enlightenment between various countries and communities. However, the classical purity of Ravi Shankar's innate style has remained unaffected, in spite of his affinity for Western music.
The Cal Arts doctoral citation presented to the maestro in 1985, rightly sums up his achievements: "Ravi Shankar musician to the world — whose rare genius has opened the ears and minds of millions to the wondrous aesthetic of India's ancient musical tradition — adored musical ambassador whose incomparable artistry has created bridges of understanding among the peoples of the earth."
The World Musician
Ravi Shankar has written concertos for the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin, composed for the flute virtuoso Jean Pierre Rampal, Koto maestro Musumi Miyashita, and Hosan Yamamoto — master of the Shakuhachi. In 1967, Ravi Shankar appeared with Yehudi Menuhin in a concert at the United Nations in New York, and his composition for the Human Rights Day celebration was voted the Classical Record Performance of the Year by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
His first concerto was commissioned and recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn, and the second was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, where Ravi Shankar composed 'Raga Mala' — a medley of Ragas — under the direction of Zubin Mehta.
He has collaborated with George Harrison and produced three superb albums, Shankar Family & Friends, Festival of India and the recent Chants of India (1997). In 1990, Ravi Shankar worked with Phillip Glass to create the album Passages. He has also composed extensively for ballets in India, Europe, and North America. His album Tana Mana (1987) that seamlessly combines traditional instruments with electronic gadgetry brought his music into the techno age.
Shankar's Film Music
The Shankar brand of film music has a charm of its own. Ravi Shankar's musical journey took him through the Bombay movie world, where he scored for films like Dharti Ke Lal, Anuradha and Neecha Nagar. But he will always be loved for his immortal compositions for the landmark Pather Panchali, the highly esteemed Apu trilogy, and Jalsaghar — classic Bengali films by Bengal's greatest director Satyajit Ray, who went to win the Lifetime Oscar Award in 1992. Ravi Shankar was also nominated for Oscar for his musical score in Gandhi, the Academy Award winning film (1982) by Sir Richard Attenborough. (See Filmography)
Pandit Ravi Shankar: Fact File on the Sitar Maestro
Born: April 7, 1920 in Benaras or Varanasi.
Nickname: Robu
FAMILY
Father: Shyam Shankar, eminent lawyer.
Brother: Uday Shankar. renowned dancer.
First Wife: Annapurna Shankar
Second Wife: Sukanya Shankar
Son: Shubho Shankar from first wife
Daughter: Anoushka Shankar from second wife
MILESTONES
1930: Join elder brother dancer Uday Shankar in Paris
1939: First Sitar solo recital
1946: Composed the new music for popular Indian patriotic song "Saare Jahan Se Achcha". Also composed music for movies Dharti Ke Lal and Neecha Nagar.
1949-56: Became Director of All India Radio. Composed music for Satyajit Ray's path breaking debut movie Pather Panchali and his famous Apu trilogy.
1956: Toured Europe and the US
1960's: Performed at three memorable concerts - Monterey Pop Festival, Concert for Bangladesh and in The Woodstock Festival. Opened the Kinnara Music School in Mumbai in 1962.
1970's: Worked towards popularizing Indian music in the West
1981: Received the Padma Vibhushan award from the Indian Government
1986-92: Served as a member of Rajya Sabha, the lower House of the Indian Parliament
1999: Received the highest State honour - the Bharat Ratna from the Indian government.
2001: Bestowed the award of honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen Elizabeth in recognition of his services to music.
Well did not know that Ravi Shankar is a Bangali. How would i? You know what, we had live streaming on mike and speakers when he came to kbl. :) A genius, he and you.
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