Tribute to a Musical genius and a Bridge builder Pt. Ravi Shankar: by Vijay Bhatt:
April 7 is birthday of a person who deserves the most credit for introducing Indian classical music to the western world in the way the westerners can understand and appreciate it. This was coming because as a teenager he had traveled to Europe with his elder brother Uday Shankar's dance troop when he was exposed to and appreciated western mindset and western music. He could relate with western classical musicians and collaborated with the western music legends like violin player Yehudi Menuhin and many others. At the same time those elite musicians also could relate with Pt. Ravi Shankar's explanations of intricacies, depth, the process of creativity and improvisations keeping the rules of raag, taal, and the discipline of Indian classical music.
April 7 is birthday of a person who deserves the most credit for introducing Indian classical music to the western world in the way the westerners can understand and appreciate it. This was coming because as a teenager he had traveled to Europe with his elder brother Uday Shankar's dance troop when he was exposed to and appreciated western mindset and western music. He could relate with western classical musicians and collaborated with the western music legends like violin player Yehudi Menuhin and many others. At the same time those elite musicians also could relate with Pt. Ravi Shankar's explanations of intricacies, depth, the process of creativity and improvisations keeping the rules of raag, taal, and the discipline of Indian classical music.
Later, the biggest break through for Indian classical music in the western world came when Pt. Ravi Shankar played Sitar accompanied on Tabla by another Maestro Ustad Alla Rakha (Father of Ustad Zakir Hussain) at the biggest music gathering at Woodstock Festival. The Woodstock Music Festival began on August 15, 1969, as half a million people waited on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, for the three-day music festival to start. Billed as “An Aquarian Experience: 3 Days of Peace and Music,” the epic event would later be known simply as Woodstock and become synonymous with the counterculture movement of the 1960s.
Since 1960s, Ravi ji and George Harrison of the Beatles became friends and George accepted Pt. Ravi Shankar as his Guru and started learning Sitar and other musical collaborations. Beatles deserves some credit for making Pt. Ravi Shankar a household name for music and Beatles loving westerners.
Whether other Indian classical musicians like it or not, it is evident that before him, no other musician had tenacity to reach out to global audience especially western audience like Pt. Ravi Shankar did.
Pandit ji, keeping intact, the strict theoretical, classical, and traditional framework of pure Hindustani classical music art form crossed the cultural and geographical boundaries and won hearts of millions of open minded global music lovers.
His personal life had been non-traditional, juicy, unlike most traditional Indian Classical musicians, and colorful.
Many Indian musicians take pride by using his name and claiming their association with Ravi ji, no matter how short it was, proves the point about his musical genius and greatness!
His daughter Anushka is a promising sitar player in her own rights, trying to make inroads to establish her and fill in the big shoes left by the legend- Pandit Ravi Shankar ji! We owe the legend an immense gratitude for his services to the Indian Classical music! Namaskar Pandit ji!!!- Vijay Bhatt
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