Moments with the Maestro: Sitar Maestro Ravi Shankar Turns 89

“The word ’improvisation’ to me means to never stop”-Pandit Ravi Shankarnn In the past almost 9 years that I have known Pandit Ravi Shankar, his lovely wife Sukanya and their brilliant, multi talented daughter Anoushka, I have written a lot about the maestro, his music and beyond.nnToday as he turns 89, I sit here wondering, how can I or anyone else capture the soul of a man who was born to be a musician; a man, whose childlike curiosity even today about so much that is beyond music is so endearing. His penchant for perfection still courses through those frail hands at 89, only to display flashes of his genius in the lightning bolts of melody that resonate through the air in concerts-now on a special baby sitar created especially for him. And this after he had lost his hearing in one ear many years ago.nn Pandit Ravi Shankar’s musical journey began long before I was even born and now when I look at it, Pandit ji interestingly became a part of a family where improvisation became a way of life in more ways than one. When you trace the story of Pandit Ravi Shankar, you see a series of happy accidents that seemed to have happened, just to take him where he finally reached.nnAnd the word improvisation took on a new meaning as well! It didn’t just mean never to stop, it meant never stop going with the flow.nn And perhaps, you can say it was destined.nn In my first in-depth interview with Ravi ji, he told me his earliest memories of music were of lying in Benaras on the roof at night, watching the stars and hearing his mother sing thumris to him as she put him to sleep, along with mythological stories and the names of all the stars and about her childhood. His mother was a strong, but short, influence in his life, and died when he was 16.nn This was a far cry from stories I heard from Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who was born in a family of legendary musicians or Ustad Shujaat Khan, whose father the legendary sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan Sahib too was from a family of great maestros.nn In fact Ustad Amjad Ali Khan had said to me “As far as Ravi Shankar is concerned, my greatest admiration for him stems from the fact that here is a man who had no gharana to talk about. His father was not a musician, his guru’s father was not a musician. On top of that his guru was a sarod player. Look at the odds he beat to become the extraordinary musician he became. His contribution in putting Indian classical music on the map is so obvious and so well documented that I’m surprised when I hear any one saying to the contrary. He is truly a self made musician and he deserves every accolade that has come his way.”nn Pandit ji’s illustrious brother Uday Shankar again was adept at improvisation; a self taught dancer he dazzled a world audience with his talent. Ravi ji had recalled that, “he could simply visualize movements while looking at photographs and sculptures and he also had seen folk dances at different festival and came up with brilliant, original and unique work. Of course later on he did study art, dance and history of different regions of India.”nn Uday Shankar taught Ravi ji so much by example-how to conduct yourself, how to present your work in the best possible way. The quest for that perfection stems from those early years, and remains the hallmark of any Ravi Shankar concert you attend. His only regret, Ravi ji said to me was that he grew up far too quickly. Still he loved being surrounded by music and dance.nn And yet again, just like that, Ravi ji was plucked from the glitzy lifestyle to the Spartan surroundings of Maihar and the strict discipline and rigorous routine of his guru, the legendary Baba Allauddin Khan. Baba had joined Uday Shankar’s troupe in 1935. His genius, says Ravi ji, totally changed his own focus from dance to music. “I was more of a dancer then. I used to fiddle with all the instruments including sitar without really being serious, but Baba’s genius bowled me over totally. After a year he went back to India, when I was 16. But 2 years later I followed him to his village of Maihar, leaving my wonderful luxurious life with my brother.”nnIt wasn’t easy-Ravi ji even tried to run away because the strict discipline got to him, but better sense prevailed and the maestro returned. The most important lesson Ravi ji learnt from his guru was that music is “devotion, meditation and prayer and we must always preserve its sanctity.” And that divinity still emanates from his performances.nnThe constant hype about Ravi ji’s foray into the west is invariably tied to his relationship with the Beatles. He has also faced his share of snide comments about jamming with them. The truth is that Ravi ji met Yehudi Menuhin in 1952 and struck a friendship with him and Menhuin asked Ravi ji to come to the west. “I met George Harrison almost 10 years later in 1966. I was already very well known in Europe and USA by then, playing in all the famous auditoriums”.nnAnd though he greatly influenced Harrison, Ravi ji NEVER jammed with the Beatles, a fact not many people realize or choose to remember. In fact if there was one thing that makes the maestro unique is the fact that every musician he has collaborated with, has played Ravi ji’s compositions. And to this day, both as a composer and arranger, Ravi Shankar calls the shots. Ravi Shankar never ventured into any kind of fusion. His presentation was innovative but always within the classical tradition. Zakir put it very concisely when he said- “Ravi Shankar did not venture into fusion because he was needed to establish Indian music and make people of the west understand what it was all about. That was the immense contribution of artists of his time — to lay the foundation, the platform upon which artists like me can bounce other things, and even cross over, because today our identity is set and we can innovate but we will never lose that base.”nnRavi ji told me that he felt in those times that he was walking on a thin edged sword. “On one hand I was receiving so much love and appreciation abroad, and I would have become a multimillionaire many times over and won many more Grammies, if I had jammed with all these musicians from the west. I composed the raga and talas for Menuhin and Jean Pierre Ramphal and they played my compositions. I never wanted to play Bach or Beethoven with them because I felt I was not trained in western classical music and hence it would be inappropriate for me to try a hand at it. The Indian musicians and critics, on the other hand, were very unkind misrepresenting what I was doing. They claimed I was Americanizing and commercializing our music, that I had become part of the pop and rock culture. My music, tantra, kamasutra, sex and drugs all were being lumped together. It was a strange atmosphere for almost 10 years Even the late Ustad Vilayat Khan, a wonderful musician, God bless his soul, would take digs at me. In the first 20 minutes of his recital he would say something to the effect of this is not the “Beatley Sitar” that I’m playing this is the real sitar!nnIn fact I hated that loud and drug infested aspect of music. I had walked away from watching Jimi Hendrix because he was being obscene and set fire to his guitar. It was such disrespect to the instrument. Discordant music makes me physically ill. I have been a composer myself and I love to experiment all the time, but whatever I composed or experimented with was based on Indian music, be it classical or contemporary. But you will notice that I have never jammed with any jazz or rock artist. I am personally not interested in fusion music. It is very fashionable and popular today, but it will be forgotten soon. It is more of a gimmicky thing to sell records. I don’t want to criticize, but personally it’s not my thing.nnIt was exhausting work, but I would go back to India and play the same raga for 5 hours, concert after concert, to prove to my critics that I was still as immersed in tradition and all I was trying to do was create an appreciation and understanding of our music. Today a lot of those musicians who criticized me have reaped the benefits along with their children, by finding fame and appreciation here.’ How true.nnPerhaps one of the milestones in Ravi ji’s illustrious career is his brilliance as a composer of concertos and what a fantastic arranger he is. He recalls that “after the 70’s and 80’s I have written 3 major orchestral pieces. My first Concerto, commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Andre Previn (1970) was a thrilling experience! It had 4 movements ( Khamaj, Bhairavi, Adana and Manj Khamaj) I used modulation or swarabhed; changing the Tonic (sa) on the same basic Khamaj scale. Initially I thought that it would be difficult to handle sitar with the whole Symphony Orchestra. That is why I insisted on having amplification for the sitar. It did require practice, but the end result was satisfying, as it was a unique thing to have done at that time. Of course, Indian classical music is all about improvisation. I had written the piece for sitar with enough space to improvise, especially the piece where I play coming in to lead the orchestra.nn The second concerto, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and conducted by Zubin Mehta was more complex. I conceived about 36 Ragas for its 4 movements, displaying some longer (Lalit, Yaman, and Desh) and the others in shorter form. Zubin asked me to put some hot chilli in the composition, so I did that by using scales and Ragas which were difficult for Western musicians such as Lalit, Marwa etc and Talas having 51/2 and 131/2 beats (matras).nn ARPAN was performed at The Royal Albert Hall – in memory of George Harrison, was very moving. Anoushka conducted it.”nn In January, I flew to New Jersey to see the world premiere of Ravi ji’s 3rd concerto written for Sitar and Orchestra especially for his daughter Anoushka and performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The presentation was sold out at Carnegie Hall as well as Chicago and Pennsylvania, the three major venues for the premiere.nnThere are only three concertos for sitar and orchestra and all have been written by Ravi Shankar. The latest piece captures the essence and soul of India’s folk music –a gift for daughter Anoushka, about a princess who falls in love with a humble servant boy, the anguish of adolescent love and parting and then the joy of reunion. It has been as fascinating for the audience as it has been for the musicians themselves. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performs without a conductor, and performing with a sitarist was a novel experience for them. They knew of the legendary maestro, but nothing about the instrument, had only heard about Anoushka, read her bio but had no clue what they were in for. Anoushka too wasn’t sure how they would all stay in rhythm, minus a conductor, and how it would all blend together.nn The end result was mesmerizing, in how it all came together on stage as I sat totally enchanted through the three movements. Ravi ji said the ragas he chooses for any composition come to him as if in a divine blessing or inspiration and this time was no different, he said. He also says that in his mind this beautiful concerto was born as a ballet. Perhaps it’s his persona as a dancer that is often reflected in his compositions and even in the way his body literally dances on stage as he plays the sitar. He says it is his dream now that perhaps a ballet may emerge out of this. Now that Amjad Ali Khan has written and performed the concerto for Sarod Ravi ji added, “I am very happy to see other Indian Musicians following suit and writing for Indian Instruments and western Orchestra.”nn Ravi ji’s compositions with Yehudi Menhuin in the West meets East cd, were released in 1967, but those pieces still remain one of his most loved. When daughter Anoushka performed one of the pieces based on raga Mishra Pilu, at the Verbier Festival, it brought the house down and remains one of the most loved segments on my website.nnI was in Savannah to attend a concert by Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and Ustad Zakir Hussain on 31st March as part of the Savannah Music festival. One of the surprise items was a duet between Zakir and Violinist Daniel Hope and guess what they played..the same piece from West meets East. And so the fact remains that Ravi Shankar’s impact on Indian and world Music still continues to span generations, and inspire musicians across the world.nnOver the years, I have seen Pandit Ravi Shankar battle life threatening illnesses, and do farewell tours each time to return once again to everyone’s joy-he is constantly teased about it, but Sukanya says she continues to encourage him to compose because music is his life. The man, his music, the world stage and audiences of different ages and eras, are inextricably bound by love of music and love of the man himself, year after year. I have seen the intense love, the tears in the eyes of the people, each time he walks on stage. The entire ambience changes with his presence. It’s as if everything morphs into a more divine, more resonant, more soulful version of itself. The entire auditorium just flows with love. How often do I wish we could replicate that in a world full of jealousy, envy, one-upmanship, non inclusion where people rejoice in the failures of others, and we often find ourselves overwhelmed by a world today of economic imbalance that has seen, violently tragic consequences and loneliness; where depression seem to be rampant.nn Over the years, I have seen Pandit Ravi Shankar battle life threatening illnesses, and do farewell tours each time to return once again to everyone’s joy-he is constantly teased about it, but Sukanya says she continues to encourage him to compose because music is his life. The man, his music, the world stage and audiences of different ages and eras, are inextricably bound by love of music and love of the man himself, year after year. I have seen the intense love, the tears in the eyes of the people, each time he walks on stage. The entire ambience changes with his presence. It’s as if everything morphs into a more divine, more resonant, more soulful version of itself. The entire auditorium just flows with love. How often do I wish we could replicate that in a world full of jealousy, envy, one-upmanship, non inclusion where people rejoice in the failures of others, and we often find ourselves overwhelmed by a world today of economic imbalance that has seen, violently tragic consequences and loneliness; where depression seem to be rampant. I have heard snide as well as ignorant comments passed, and I wondered-why are we so anxious to focus on the negative? Why do we presume we know everything about someone’s life by just reading media reports and why do we always have a holier than thou attitude about others?nn I remember seeing him in concert last October and thinking somehow of what Sukanya had said to me a few years ago. I had written then, “As I sat watching Ravi ji play and Anoushka and Tanmoy Bose accompany him, I wondered if people who get dazzled by Ravi ji’s success or are envious of it, and those who complain about Sukanya being too tough, have ever realized the blood, sweat and tears that are such an integral part of an artist’s life who reaches any where, leave alone, when he becomes a front runner in the art he represents?nn How many people really know of Ravi ji’s ill health and how many odds he has had to beat. How many people know that he can’t hear from one ear for the longest possible time, that the day of the concert, a Sunday, his hearing aid broke and if it wasn’t for a kind physician who came in to fix things, things would have been tough. But knowing Ravi Shankar, the man has music in every cell of his body and he would have played and played well no matter what the circumstances.”nn I had also written something else in that review. I had said- ”It’s also interesting to me that many Indians will ask me-why is he still playing? The non Indians on the other hand, are so grateful that they can still be fortunate enough to see those flashes of melodic brilliance when musicians half his age, are fading out.”nnThis discrimination is something Ravi ji has had to battle all his life. The immense admiration and adulation in the west and the acrimony and petty jealousies at home, have dogged him and yet to this day I have never seen him complain about or criticize anyone. He remains very simple and very accessible and loves meeting people from every walk of life. The last time we met there were people in the room who had grown up before his eyes and the love and warmth has continued over the years.nn And for those who have grumbled about Sukanya, let me say that I find her to be a very rare human being. I’m sure she has had her own growing up to do over the years as a young, inexperienced girl who first fell in love with the great maestro and was thrust in the limelight. For her to create a strong, sacred space for him to flourish, both as an artist and remain a healthy human being, must have meant making some mistakes, and baptism by fire literally as she must have tried separating the hangers on and fair weather friends from those who were genuine well wishers. It must have also meant facing the wrath of many while being the shield and a strong support system for Ravi ji and her young daughter.nnThe Sukanya I know today is very loving, intensely loyal, generous, giving and thoughtful and I’m proud to call her my friend. Much as I love everyone in that household Sukanya knows she is the one I have the softest corner for. Ravi ji often jokes when we meet-“I know you women are always up to something, and we are”. It was Sukanya who told me about this irrepressible crush Ravi ji had on the legendary Lata Mangeshkar and never told her, and I got him on to confess about it in a lovely interview he gave about Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Lata ji did hear about it since she interviewed for the same segment! All of Ravi ji’s secrets are mischievously revealed by Sukanya, who has the most infectious tinkling laughter I have heard.nnIn all the hullabaloo that surrounds Raviji and has surrounded him through the years, people have come and gone out of his life but Sukanya has remained that one constant pillar of strength who literally snatched him from the mouth of death a couple of times and nursed him back to health and vigor. I have also seen her brim with joy as Ravi ji continues to defy all odds and is perhaps going to start another innings as a composer, writer par excellence of music and much much more. And this tribute to Ravi Shankar cannot be complete without the woman who is truly his soul mate in so many ways.nn It is also wonderful to see the close relationship Anoushka has with her sister Norah Jones and how fond Sukanya is of her. Ravi ji too has a warm rapport with Norah and is obviously proud of her achievements and the fact that she has made it on her own steam.nnThe last time we met we were talking about getting him to start a blog. Perhaps then so many who have waited for years to reach out and connect with this fascinating, very lovable man would be that much closer to the truth of Ravi Shankar-a truth that has often been written in the way someone has wanted to write it-never in the words of Ravi Shankar himself.nnMany happy returns of the day Ravi ji and wishing you many wonderful years full of good health and magical, divine music.