13/01/2025
The Godfather of World Music
Pandit Ravi Shankar was an Indian musician and composer, best known for popularizing the Indian classical instrument Sitar all over the world. Shankar grew up studying music and toured as a member of his brother's dance troupe. After serving as the director of All-India Radio, he began to tour India and the United States. In the process, he collaborated with many notable musicians, including George Harrison and Philip Glass. He even collaborated with the famous band ‘The Beatles’, popularizing Sitar to a greater extent.
Ravi Shankar was born into a Bengali family. His father Shyam Shankar Chowdhury left to London to work as a lawyer after serving as a local barrister under the British. Young Ravi Shankar was raised by his mother and had not met his father until he was eight years old. In 1930, he moved to Paris to be part of a musical troupe and later joined his brother, Uday Shankar’s dance troupe. He toured with the troupe from the age of 10, and gave many memorable performances as a dancer.
Ravi Shankar was introduced to Sitar much later in his life when he was 18 years old. It all began at a concert in Kolkata where he heard Amiya Kanti Bhattacharya play the classical instrument. Moved by the performance, Shankar decided that he too, must learn Sitar under Bhattacharya’s guru, Ustad Inayat Khan. This is how Sitar came into his life and remained with him until he breathed his last.
Ravi Shankar has a long list of albums to his credit. Following are some of his best sellers:
Three Ragas – Released in the year 1956, ‘Three Ragas’ was his first LP album. It was re-released in the digital format by Angel Records in the year 2000.
Tana Mana – This album was originally credited to ‘The Ravi Shankar Project’ and was released in 1987. ‘Tana Mana’ was an experimental work by the Pandit, who mixed traditional instrumentation with electronic music of the 80s.
Farewell, My Friend – When Shankar heard about Satyajit Ray’s death, he spontaneously composed this album. It was subsequently recorded and released by HMV.
The Sounds of India – Originally released in 1968 as a LP album, ‘The Sounds of India’ was digitally re-released in CD format in 1989.
June 1966, George Harrison, member of the famous band Beatles, met Ravi Shankar in London. Harrison befriended him and began to take Sitar lessons from the Pandit himself. The association immediately brought Shankar and Indian music unprecedented popularity in the West. Harrison's introduction of the Sitar into the Beatles, gave rise to a new genre of music known as raga rock. He later started working as Ravi Shankar’s producer. Harrison addressed him as “The Godfather of World Music”. Twenty three years older than Harrison, Shankar described their relationship as that of father and a son.
The legendary musician had passed away at California at the age of 92 on December, 2012.
This is the video of pandit Ravi shankar,on his last concert,while he was bidding good bye to his listeners, with a oxygen cylinder and without zero mistakes