RMIM Archive Article "64".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM/C Archives..
# Subject: Great Master's series
# Great Masters #4: Satyam Shivam Sundaram - Ravi Shankar's Music!
#
# Posted by: Rajan Parrikar (parrikar@colorado.edu)
# Sources: "Down Melody Lane" (1984) by G.N. Joshi
#
#
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Pandit Ravi Shankar
by
G.N.Joshi
G.N. Joshi's book, "Down Melody Lane" (1984),
pp 95-98
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The melodious strains of Ravi Shankar's sitar have carried Indian
music across the seven seas. Ravi Shankar is now a world famous
personality. His recitals in India and abroad draw huge crowds.
Millions of fans gather to hear him. Films are being made about
his life. Ravi Shankar had ridden the crest of popularity for
over 30 years and this popularity shows no signs of abatement.
This era in music could truly be called the Ravi Shankar era. He
has contributed a golden page to the history of Indian classical
music.
I met Ravi Shankar in 1940. He is about 10 years younger than me,
and at that time he was in his twenties. Fair and slim, this cur-
ly haired youth worked with me in the studio for some time. Even
in those early days his intelligence and dedication to music were
apparent. I always felt that his tremendous creative ability was
being wasted in the HMV studio and that he would soon do much
better for himself. This was proved to be correct when, a few
years later, Pandit Ravi Shankar's magnificent music conquered
the world, and his fame reached great heights. Pandit Ravi
Shankar's father was an eminent barrister and a very high offi-
cial in a princely state. Ravi Shankar had a happy childhood. His
was a family of artists, and all his brothers have become famous
in different artistic spheres. His eldest brother was the world
renowned dancer Uday Shankar, the two other brothers Sachin Shan-
kar and Rajendra Shankar are also very well known.
Ravi Shankar studied music and learnt to play the sitar under the
guidance of Ustad Allaudin Khan. His sangeet sadhana was as
strenuous and gruelling as the tapasya (penance) done in the ol-
den days by ascetics seeking knowledge in the ashrams of their
gurus. Living with Ustad Allaudin Khan and pursuing his study,
Ravi Shankar had to undergo rigorous trials. The Ustad was a dif-
ficult master. At times Ravi Shankar was even subjected to physi-
cal punishment. Coming as he did from an affluent and very highly
placed family, it was very difficult for him to bear the hard
work and humiliating treatment. One day he tried to run away from
the guru's home. A friend, however, brought him back from the
station.
(***Insert***: This friend was the Ustad's now-famous son, Ali
Akbar Khan. There's an interesting story about this incident and
curious readers are referred to Ravi Shankar's autobiography "My
Music, My Life". It should be available at the university
libraries.....Rajan).
The next morning Ustad Allaudin Khan came to know of Ravi
Shankar's attempt to escape. The Ustad was so upset at this that
he burst into tears and embraced his pupil. Ustad Allaudin Khan
not only imparted his treasure of knowledge to this favourite
disciple, but in addition bestowed upon him the hand of his
daughter Annapurna in marriage.
Although Ustad Allaudin Khan was a Muslim by birth, his general
behaviour, his style of living and his dress were those of an
orthodox Hindu. I had the opportunity to meet Allaudin Khan and
to observe him closely when I visited Jodhpur with Ravi Shankar
on an invitation from the maharaja. I first saw him in the early
hours of the morning. He was wearing a brahminic style dhoti and
was offering puja to Laxmi and Saraswati. He looked exactly like
one's concept of a pious freshly bathed learned brahmin scholar
of vedic times.
When Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar combined their skills at
mehfils and on records, and presented their artistic craftmanship
on the sarod and sitar, they received tremendous ovations. In
search of wider audiences they proceeded to Europe from where,
encouraged by their success, they went on to America. Their
tremendous popularity in America induced them to stay there to
try new experiments and set new trends in music. They have both
spent the greater part of their last few years outside India,
and, in their separate ways won countless fans through their con-
certs. Pandit Ravi Shankar started a music school, the Kinnara
school, at Los Angeles in California, but he very recently closed
it and has returned to India with the intention of starting an
Ashram in the holy city of Varanasi. Ali Akbar, however, has de-
cided to stay on in San Rafael, to coach Americans in the art of
playing Indian classical music. In his efforts to induce Western
listeners to appreciate and enjoy Indian music, Ravi Shankar
adopted a technique of presentation different from the old tradi-
tional style. Naturally there arose the fear that Indian tradi-
tion and prestige of Indian music might suffer in the process.
Critics accused Ravi Shankar of polluting the high and chaste
standard of presentation and even feared that the purity of ragas
was at stake. It is, however, true that from the point of view of
acquainting Western listeners with Indian music and training them
to listen to and enjoy the artistic beauty of our music, the
method and course adopted by Ravi Shankar was the correct one.
Through his novel technique of presentation, he taught Western
listeners what to look for in our music for real appreciation and
enjoyment. Sitars, which sell moderately well in India, were ex-
ported in thousands to America and other Western countries. This
proved the popularity and success of Ravi Shankar. In 1969, he
was cited as 'Musician of the Year' by one of the leading organs
of America's musical industry, Billboard Magazine. Enticed by
Ravi Shankar and his sitar, George Harrison of the famous group,
the Beatles, came to Bombay some years ago. While he was there he
gave a demonstration of Indian music in our studio, and I was
witness to the miraculous achievement of Pandit Ravi Shankar. In
his never ending quest for novel ideas, and to successfully ar-
range a meeting between the music of the East and West, Ravi
Shankar made an LP record entitled 'Sitar Concerto' supported en-
tirely by a Western orchestra in London. This record will un-
doubtedly be a great asset in considerably increasing the in-
terest of Western listeners in Indian music. I, however, honestly
feel that such a fusion of two styles so different from each oth-
er will never hold lastingly together. The classical nature of
Ravi Shankar's sitar playing has remained pure and unaffected,
inspite of his having stayed abroad for several years. He has
mastered every aspect of sitar playing such as alap, jod, gat,
zala, etc. During the alap movement he reveals the magnificent
structure of a raga in a delightfully elaborate style. The jod
and gat, that follow the alap movement, are so resplendent with
the remarkable display by his artistic nimble fingers, that the
audience remains completely hypnotized and spellbound. Inspite of
the great success that has come his way Ravi Shankar has remained
a very humble person. Apart from his sitar playing Ravi Shankar
has won a big name in other fields of music too. For a few years
he conducted the orchestra in All India Radio, and at that time
he made recordings of ragas presented in an entirely novel and
unique way. He scored the background music for several Hindi
films with great success. The films Kabuliwala and Pather Pan-
chali need special mention in this connection. More creditable
still is the fact that he is the first ever Indian artist to be
selected to provide music for western films. Fame, honour and
titles of every kind have been showered upon the great maestro.
In 1957, at the Berlin film festival, there was conferred upon
him the prestigious 'Silver Bear' award for the background music
of Kabuliwala. The Indian government has already honoured him
with the Padmabhushan.
(***Insert***: Didn't he get the Padmavibhushan recently? Will
someone confirm?...Rajan)
I always consider it a great privilege to have a friend like him
who, after winning such international acclaim, is still so modest
and loving at heart.
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Rajan Parrikar
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian