The Ravi Shankar experience

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The Ravi Shankar experience

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COVER STORY
SOME OTHERS WHOSE LIVES HE TOUCHED

A blessing to know him
SINDHUJA BHAKTHAVATSALAM and ADITYA PRAKASH are two young US-based musicians Ravi Shankar handpicked to perform with his ensemble.

A

lthough in the same city as the sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar, little did I expect an opportunity to be part of a musical ensemble curated by him, to perform at “India Calling!” in Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles. It was the end of my vacation in India in 2009 when I heard from a member of the Indian Fine Arts Academy, San Diego, that Ravi Shankar was looking for vocalists to join his ensemble. I was asked to send a few recordings for audition, and was fortunate enough to be invited on board. 12 September 2009 is a day I can never forget – the day I first met the sitar maestro at his house and spent an evening learning some music from him. I was elated, nervous, excited and in denial, all at once. Guruji sat there, with an ever so warm and welcoming smile. Nearing 90, he exuded incredible energy. We were four musicians that day and were asked to sing one by one. I was stupefied, and I am not sure to this day what came out of my voice, but Guruji listened keenly and had generous words of appreciation for each of us. He also briefly interacted with each of us individually and when I told him I learnt from Lalgudi Rajalakshmi, his face lit up and he exclaimed, “What a great musical family!” 14th September was when all the musicians – most from India, some from the US – arrived, and rehearsals started in full swing. What an atmosphere – about twenty of us, including some of the finest Hindustani and Carnatic artists, put together in a room doing music all day. No words can describe the experience. Guruji would sit in front and teach us the songs with Anoushka beside him, helping him out (she was going to conduct the ensemble at the show). He was so encouraging and respectful of every artist present there. Each piece to be performed was composed and hand-picked by him. All of them were wonderful ragas including Khamaj, Piloo, Behag, Manj Khamaj, Yaman, not to mention a small Carnatic piece from Raghunayaka in Hamsadhwani. It was amazing how Guruji intuitively

knew where to put in a violin, where to introduce a cello, how to judiciously blend a sitar, a shehnai and a flute, how to use the mridangam, the tabla, the dhol and dhak so effectively with each instrument retaining its individuality; and last but not least, what the optimum balance of male and female vocals was, all to produce the most beautiful amalgam of sounds. During the rehearsals, Guruji played only minimally to get an idea across (since we were all given handouts with all the pieces notated), on one of the days after rehearsal, we were blessed to listen to the maestro play Yaman solo, unplugged. Watching him play with and caress the strings from just a few feet away will remain an indelible image in my mind. What was striking to me throughout the week of rehearsals was the beautiful exchange of ideas and styles among the Hindustani and Carnatic musicians – both during the rehearsals and during impromptu “jam” sessions. I could clearly see, beyond a point, the two genres seamlessly merging into each other when you could no longer tell the difference. In keeping with the spirit of Guruji’s household – with his wife Sukanya a Tamil – the two languages we could predominantly hear among the artists as well, were Bengali and Tamil (and of course the occasional woofs and yelps of their cute little poodle Sukhee). And then out of the blue, Guruji and Anoushka would surprise us with a word or two in Tamil. Soon it was the evening of the 20th – the day of the performance and we were all assembled on the stage. As the dais turned, we could see Guruji sitting right in front and we were going to present his timeless creations to a 25-30,000 strong audience. With his blessings, the show went very well and the experience was nothing short of exhilarating. The one week or so spent with him still seems surreal. What a guru, what an artist! As musicians and fans mourn his loss the world over, the San Diego music community will particularly miss him sorely, having seen and interacted with him at close quarters. Most of all, we will miss the lovely sight of the legend in an almost meditative state at every concert here.
(Sindhuja is a research scholar and musician based in San Diego)

16 l SRUTI January 2013

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