Raviji’s Sukanya
Contributed By - Nita Mallya
Phoenix is blessed with a beautiful and state-of-the-art Musical Instrument Museum. MIM as it is best known, hosts unique and diverse events right here in phoenix and it recently honored late Pandit Ravi Shankar’s legacy and show cased two of the Sitar used by Panditji, and a documentary along with a host of events over the weekend.
Panditji accomplished amazing collaborations without compromising Indian classical music over 50 years ago and eased into the Indian and western audiences alike, taking his music across the globe. His legacy still alive through his remarkable compositions. The very last concert that I personally witnessed of Pandit Ravi Shankar was back in 2010 at the Janet Ikeda theater, Mesa Arts center to a packed audience of over 1500 people and I took pride like millions of other artists and Indians. He was a legend, a jewel in the crown of Indian classical music who took music to a whole new level in the history of Indian music.
I had the fortune of interviewing the elegant and beautiful Smt Sukanya Shankar at the magnificent MIM. She put me at ease during the course of the interview and it felt like I was conversing with an old friend. She is still deeply in love with Panditji and I was so in awe of the way her face lit up when she would talk about him. Below are the excerpts from the interview.
What was it like being Pandit Ravi Shankar’s wife?
I knew him for 40 years (1972-2012). I met him first when I was 9 years old. I was an ardent admirer, a fan which remained so until the very end. I’m from the south and I saw him performing first time at the Music Academy, Chennai. I saw him from a distance. I did not understand the music but I was fascinated by the music Raviji was playing. He was handsome, and I loved his aura, the way he presented. When I was 17 years of age I met him again and I was asked to play ‘Tanpura’ and I was completely dumbfounded. Eventually got married, had a daughter but that attraction did not change until the end. His aura was magnetic and I was looking forward to every concert of Raviji’s. In between the concert he would make time to have some fun and tease me with humor.
His last concert in India was in Bangalore he was supposed to have played for an hour. Anuoshka performed first half and second half Raviji played for two and a half hours at age 92. He made every moment of my life special, he would appreciate the simplest task I did for him. I do not know anybody who would say ‘thank you,’ he was a gentleman. We take people for granted in life its human nature. He was a good human being who saw goodness in other people.
Panditji’s music is relatable. How do you think that happened?
He was exposed to western music earlier on. He did not believe in borders be it in India North or south or overseas he acknowledged and encouraged music of all genres. He was divergent and appreciated dance, paintings, even food. His curiosity and keen interest with everything around him perhaps one of the reasons why he stands apart from the musicians of his generations. In fact, RIMPA (Ravi Shankar’s Institute of Music for Performing Arts) organizes dance and music festivals and is not exclusive to Sitar alone. He also incorporated the discipline of Carnatic music and brought this system in his teaching. He has given a lot to the world, even I’m benefitting especially from the love of people. I’m trying to keep his legacy alive. Raviji has some outstanding disciples such as Gaurav Majumdar, Krishna Bhatt, Shubendra Rao and many more leading artists from India today who also continue his legacy. He never rested in past laurels or stopped to think what he achieved, these things did not matter to him. He kept innovating, collaborating and composing.
How did Anoushka begin her music journey?
Anoushka is a lot like her father, she had Carnatic music as her foundation at the very beginning from my mother. She had showed signs from earlier on, about her love of music. She has a strong sense of rhythm and loved the stage. At first Raviji had no interest to teach her as a child especially training basics. He saw the hurt in my eyes, the next day he called Anoushka and went to the pooja room. What was supposed to be a 10 minutes initiation went on for couple of hours, then on there was no turning back. She was a fast learner and he enjoyed teaching her. There were many other students of Allauddin Khan but Raviji stood out, similarly Anoushka is not a copy of her father she is very different from him and she is her own.
Fun fact about Anoushka - she had a short stint at Bharatanatyam in a movie called ‘Dance like a man’ when she was 20 years old, but she was not interested in going into movies even though she had offers.
Special thanks to curator Colin Pearson and Musical Instrument Museum for giving AZ India Times an opportunity to interview Sukanya Shankar I have never seen anyone so much in love, even after they are gone. She recalled it was 5 years 10 months and 8 days since Raviji was gone when we did the interview and that for her the day does not go by without talking about her Raviji.