Memories of a Maestro

An evening dedicated to Pandit Ravi Shankar,a guru who led his audience into his magical world

Raag Maru Bihag was not particularly a favourite with Pandit Ravi Shankar. There were ragas such as the sensuous Manj Khamaj and the morning melody of Charukeshi,which were cherished a little more and played customarily by the master at his concerts. Maru Bihag,however,was a raga played on requests from his audience. Featuring a bandish from the shringar rasa,the raga is all about a lovers pining,coaxing the beloved to not leave,and stay for eternity.

On the evening of November 4,2012,when a feeble Shankar wearing an oxygen tube played what was to become his last concert in Long Beach,California,with daughter Anoushka,he chose to regale those present with Maru Bihag,a gift for his audience. After touching each swara with tenderness and ending with a tihaai,he waved at those present who were applauding tirelessly as if bidding adieu to the legend did a pranaam and burst into tears,weeping like a child. He did not want anyone to leave. It was as if he was seeing them for one last time,and as if he knew it. This scene from US-based Alan Kozlowskis documentary,Sangeet Ratna,screened at Pandit Ravi Shankars memorial service at Nehru Park on Sunday,had the audience stirred. Organised by SPICMACAY and the Shankar family,this was the first ever service held for Shankar in India,after the one at Encinitas in California. The sitar maestro passed away on December 12 last year. Incidentally,Nehru Park was also the place where Shankar performed almost three years ago,his last in the Capital.

To know him was to love him; to love his music,too,was to love him. He showed me the infinite nature of music through his own infinite creativity. Being taught by him was like being led through a magical world that I wanted to be a part of, said Anoushka at the opening of the service,which was preceded by a shehnai recital by Sanjeev and Ashwini Shankar and a performance on Raga Yaman by the students of the Ravi Shankar Institute for Music and Performing Arts. Anoushka was present with husband and filmmaker Joe Wright,son Zubin and mother Sukanya. Norah Jones,Shankars other daughter,who just finished an India tour,was also present. Dressed in black churidar and kurta,she however,chose to maintain a low key presence and did not give a speech.

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Arun Bharat Ram,businessman and Shankars family friend,while talking about Robuji,recalled how his elder brother Vinay had learnt music from Shankar,his first wife Annapurna Devi and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. My brother learnt from all three. Whenever there were some differences in approach,he would go to Annapurnaji and ask her,Why am I being taught differently by the three maestros. She would say,If you want to learn the correct nuances,go to Panditji.

The speeches were followed by a short recital by Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt,Shankars student and Grammy-winning mohan veena player,and Tanmoy Bose,a fixture in Shankars international concerts. Bhatt performed some of Shankars compositions in Manj Khamaj and Tilak Shyam followed by Kaise sapno mein kho gayi akhiyan,a composition by Shankar from Balraj Sahni-starrer Anuradha. A graphic autobiography of Shankar titled Yours in Music (Wisdom Tree,Rs 495) was also released on Sunday by the Prime Ministers wife,Gursharan Kaur and Sukanya Shankar.

Wright shared anecdotes about his father-in-law,including his fetish for white socks. Wright remembered Shankar walking around the swimming pool with a pair of dark glasses,his walking stick and bright white socks. I never saw him without his white socks. One of the greatest lessons he taught me was that it was better to love the average in people. If youve put someone on a pedestal,the moment they falter,you are likely to damn them, he said. It was hard for Shankar to falter.

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Pandit Ravi Shankar