Anoushka Shankar has shown herself to be a unique artist with tremendous talent and understanding of the great musical tradition of India. Anoushka is the only artist in the world to be trained completely by her father and legendary sitar virtuoso and composer, Ravi Shankar. She has been playing and studying the sitar with him since she was nine, and at age thirteen she made her performing debut in New Delhi, India. That same year, Anoushka entered the recording studio for the first time to play on her father’s recording, In Celebration. Two years later she helped as conductor with her father and dear friend, George Harrison, on the 1997 Angel release, Chants of India. Shortly thereafter she signed an exclusive contract with Angel/EMI Classics. In the Fall of 1998 her first solo recording, Anoushka, was released to tremendous critical acclaim. Two albums followed, Anourag in 2000 and Live at Carnegie Hall in 2001. The latter was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best World Music Album category, making her the youngest ever nominee in that category. She also played sitar on her father’s Grammy Award-winning album Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000, and has appeared as a sitarist on several other CD’s, including Sting’s Sacred Love. Anoushka spent her formative years in London, where she was born in 1981. By the time she was seven she was also living partly in New Delhi, India, where she still spends half the year performing and helping to take care of the newly constructed Ravi Shankar Centre. At age eleven she moved from London to Encinitas, California, where she graduated in 1999 with honors from public school. The year 2002 saw the release of Bapi: The Love of my Life, a biography she wrote on her father, and Anoushka has also contributed as a writer to several other books. The next year she acted in her first film, Dance Like a Man. She is also a gifted classical pianist, and retains a wide range of interests. But her devotion to the sitar and to her father’s guidance is unmistakable, with a discipline that has led her into an already extraordinary performing career. In recognition of her artistry and musicianship, the British Parliament presented Anoushka with a House of Commons Shield in 1998. She is the youngest as well as the first female recipient of this high honor. Anoushka became the first woman to perform at The Ramakrishna Centre in Calcutta in February 2000. The Indian Television Academy, Asmi and India Times chose her as one of four Women of the Year in India in 2003. In 2004 Anoushka was chosen as one of twenty Asian Heroes by the Asia edition of TIME magazine. Anoushka made her conducting debut at age nineteen in New Delhi, conducting a 22-member orchestra premiering a new composition of her father’s titled “Kalyan.” She later conducted again at the historic Concert for George in November 2002. The new composition of her father’s, called ”Arpan,” featured a guitar solo by Eric Clapton and performances by forty-three musicians playing Indian and Western intruments. Before conducting she also played a sitar solo and performed “The Inner Light” with Jeff Lyne. Anoushka now spends much of the year giving solo performances in Europe, America and Asia, and continues touring the world with her father’s ensemble. Anoushka is also championing her father’s Concerto No. 1 for Sitar and Orchestra, which she first performed with Zubin Mehta conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1997. She has premiered several new works of her father’s, including a piece for sitar and cello with legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich at the Evian Festival in 1999, “Mood Circle” at the World Economic Forum in New York in 2002, and “Nivedan” at the “Healing the Divide” benefit in New York City in 2003 which was organized by Richard Gere and Philip Glass, and attented by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Anoushka has shared the stage with many of the world’s top celebrities, including Sting, Madonna, Nina Simone, Anjelique Kidjo, Herbie Hancock, Elton John, Peter Gabriel and James Taylor, and had the fortune to perform in front of such personalities as Ray Charles and Prince Charles. After a year’s sabbatical in 2004, Anoushka has returned to the concert stage alone and with her father, but has also grown as a composer. She scored the music for a short film titled Ancient Marks, and has recorded her fourth solo album, Rise, which features several of her new compositions, played by her and many notable musicians around the world. It is due for release in September 2005. As her solo career continues to blossom, it seems she is poised to carry forward her father’s legacy as one of the most creative and influential figures in the music world. Revised May, 2005		Photo by Colston Julian "Most people are musicians simply because they play a certain instrument; when they play that instrument, the music appears. But Ravi - to me, he is the music; it just happens to be that he plays the Sitar. And it's like that with Anoushka. She has that quality…She is the music. George Harrison - 1997 "…Ms. Shankar, sounding utterly different from her father, improvised against tablas, using aggressive geometric ideas, ramming home her improvisations; the crowd cheered her loudly, and Mr. Shankar, beaming, was as proud as Ms. Coltrane had been of her son." The New York Times - June 16, 1998 "If Ravi Shankar is the guardian of Indian classical music, Anoushka is certainly the successor to his throne, by virtue of ability alone.î Dubai, February 2000   "..I am waiting for the time when I will be called Anoushka's father.... Anoushka has indeed a rare talent... there is something spiritual in the way she plays... she feels the music and gives in to it.. Ravi Shankar in an interview to Maya Bahir, Yedioth (Israel)

 In an era where children are increasingly feeling the pressure of emerging from the shadows of their illustrious parents, Anoushka Shankar is one artiste who revels in her legendary dad’s company. “When I am with him, I remain his student,” she says.

When Anoushka Shankar hit the headlines, the comparisons were inevitable. Is she as good as her dad, the legendary Ravi Shankar? Daddy is the custodian of pure Indian classical music, but will daddy’s little girl be a worthy successor to his throne? Indeed, for the young musician, coming out from the shadows of her famous father was even more difficult than trying to follow in his footsteps.

But, for all these comparisons with her illustrious father, Anoushka finds the entire question on how good or bad it is to grow under a tall tree surprisingly funny. “My relationship with my father is one of the most incredible. I have learnt all that I know about the sitar and music from daddy. Contrary to belief, I have never felt nervous while performing with him and even today it is the same, because when I am with him, I am just his student,” says the renowned sitar exponent in an interview given to Desi Match.

 What’s more? Anoushka claims that the father-daughter relationship only gives her mental strength and that very special feeling while on stage. Her words should not come as a surprise given the fact that Anoushka is probably the only artiste in the world who has remained exclusively under the tutelage of her father. In a country like India where the guru-shishya (pupil) relationship is founded on a mixture of tough justice, all-pervading reverence and humility, her relationship with the guru would have been even more daunting in view of the father-daughter link.

While none can doubt the legendary Ravi Shankar’s prowess as a great guru, how was he as a father? “He has always been much the same in both roles - very loving, caring and always giving,” she says while reminding us that theirs is not the run-of-the-mill father-daughter relationship because he is a full 61 years older than Anoushka. “More than the genetic connection, it is music that has become the biggest bond between us,” she says while recalling the days when Ravi Shankar would be touring the world and she would be pining for her papa. “I did miss him early on, but after my tenth birthday, I too became a regular fixture on his tours,” she says.

In fact she believes that it was her father’s strong influence that made Anoushka eschew the road to quick money and instant stardom and instead focus on carving a niche for herself in the chosen field of Indian classical music. Ever since her stage debut aged 13 in New Delhi, Anoushka has shared the stage with greats like Mstislav Rostopovitch and Zubin Mehta. Indeed it is creditable fact that despite requests for remix, a pop career and even a movie career, Anoushka has remained loyal to classical music. At this juncture, you cannot but ask her about the next album. “Oh! I cannot tell you too much but for the fact that it will be releasing next year. It will be very different from my previous work,” she says and dismisses all this talk of fusion music saying when she or her dad played; it was always Indian classical music and nothing else.

 After having dwelt on her beautiful relationship with papa Ravi Shankar, you quiz her on marriage and Anoushka laughs. “I have no fixed views. I have observed some very bad and some very good marriages. Some persons are not worth being life partners, though I feel there are more positives than negatives in matrimony. As for my life partner, I am sure Mr. Right will come along and I will get married too - not now but quite some time later,” she says.

Given Anoushka’s love for music, one can guess that her partner for life too would be from the very same field. “Actually, I don’t know. I feel that in general too music has a very important role to play in a relationship. It provides strength to a bond as it deals more with feelings and emotions.”

And what does papa Ravi Shankar think of his little girl, who became the youngest musician ever to be nominated for the Grammy Awards when her album Live at Carnegie Hall was listed under the Best World Music Album category. “I am waiting for the time when I will be called Anoushka’s father. She has a rare talent; there is something spiritual in the way she plays. She feels the music and gives in to it,” says the obviously proud father.

Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar along with Tanmoy Bose and Arup Chattopadhyay on Tabla performed in Stern Auditorium on Nov 15th in a jam-packed hall of over 3,000 people. Further demonstrating the music’s tremendous cross-over appeal, it was noted that the crowd was only about 15-20% Indian, and tickets were sold out at least 2 weeks in advance of the performance. Though the total experience was electrifying, the Thumri during the second half was absolutely unbelievable. The overwhelmed audience gave an amazing five standing ovations, and each one of them was well-deserved.

by

Mukesh Khosla

Anoushka with her father Ravi Shankar at the launch of her book
'Bapi - the love of my life'

In her glittering spaghetti tops and Reebok T-shirt she could be mistaken for any teeny-bopper. But Anoushka Shankar, daughter of the legendary sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, bears the great responsibility of carrying the baton of musical tradition that her father has passed on to her.

The young lady is already moving in the hallowed circles of artists, and intellectuals. You do occasionally spot her in hip and happening dos in the city --- where she becomes the Page-3 shutterbugs’ delight thanks to her designer attire.

Yet, unlike the chatterati, her life does not revolve around Swarovski tattoos and cineplexes. Instead, it is marked by a passion for the extraordinary – excellence in sitar and continuing her father's great musical tradition.

There is yet another passion in this 21-year-old's life - her affection for Bapi, as she calls her legendary father. In her recently released book, Bapi---The Love of My Life, a biography on Ravi Shankar, she details many interesting facts of the doyen of music.

" For me Bapi is everything. Musician, rockstar, joker, Bharat Ratna. He is my father, friend, guide and guru," says Anoushka who, till the age of seven had no idea he was her father. " I always thought my mother's first husband was my father."

Even when she realized that it was indeed, Ravi Shankar she was very shy accepting it because of the big age gap---he was 61 when Anoushka was born. " But he was warm, had a lovely sense of humour and slowly and surely, I got around to accepting the fact," says Anoushka who was born in London, and grew up in California, where she graduated with honours.

She has been her father's disciple since she was nine, working first on a "baby" sitar that was built especially for her. At age 13 she made her performing debut in Delhi. That same year, Anoushka entered the recording studio for the first time to play on her father's recording, In Celebration.

Two years later she helped as conductor with her father and George Harrison, who was Shankar's friend. The two collaborated on the 1997 Angel hit, Chants of India.

Anoushka still prizes the gifts George Harrison gave her - a turquoise bracelet from Mexico, a ruby necklace from Chennai, a CD player. Indeed, it is Harrison’s acquaintance that gave Ravi Shankar his true international status. Harrison called Ravi Shankar the godfather of world music.

" It was only when Uncle George died that I realised how much close I was to him. He was a surrogate father….the standby dad!"

Anoushka is frank in her book about her father's affairs with many women, but she stoutly defends him saying it was always a no-strings-attached type of affair. " He would make it very clear to them that since he is very committed to his music, he could not possibly think of settling down," she says and adds, he always respected the women who came in his life and we are still close to many -  thanks to my mother Sukanaya.

The maestro's first wife was Annapoorna, daughter of his guru Allauddin Khan whom he married at Maihar in Madhya Pradesh. It is no secret there was little element of love in the union. In fact, many accuse Shankar of marrying her to promote his musical career. Nobody was surprised when the marriage went sour and divorce followed.

Anoushka is the third daughter of Ravi Shankar,  born Robindro Shaunkar Chowdhury in a Bengali family in Varansi (Benares). Anoushka  picked up the sitar when she was nine – a special baby sitar was made for her. By 13, she was already giving concerts.

In the biography, she also provides facts and figures about her father’s growth: When he was 10, Shankar accompanied his elder brother, Uday Shankar, with his company of dancers and musicians to Paris and stayed back to do his schooling.

Later he spent several years in the West absorbing different kinds of music but returned to India in 1938 where he began his career. Between 1949 and 1956 he combined his concert performances with his work for All India Radio where he established the National Chamber Orchestra.

As word of his virtuosity spread throughout India, then Europe, Asia and the United States, Shankar embarked on one of the most extraordinary careers in the history of contemporary music.

Anoushka says that she was lucky to be born into such a family. And candidly admits she has a definite advantage over others. But then, she adds, " I must have been a worthy daughter to share the stage with my father."

Today, in addition to her own concerts, Anoushka continues touring the world with her father's ensemble and has performed in India, Europe, Asia and the United States. She performed with Zubin Mehta in March 1997. Most recently, she became the first woman ever to perform at The Ramakrishna Centre in Kolkata in February 2000.

Anoushka admits she has been at a great advantage -   of all the three children, Shankar groomed only her to be a true heir of his legacy. " That is because I spent more time with him, and in the process came closest to his persona" she says.

At 82, Ravi Shankar’s body is frail. He suffers from ailments and his hearing is partially impaired. But he is content in the fact that he has a worthy successor.

Today Anoushka is gaining a status all her own. She has an exclusive contract with Angel/EMI Classics. In 1998 her first solo recording, Anoushka, was released to tremendous critical acclaim. Her second album, Anourag, was released in 2000.

As her solo career continues to blossom, she is poised to carry forward her father's legacy as one of the most creative and influential figures in the classical Indian music world. In recognition of her artistry and musicianship, on July 17, 1998 the British Parliament presented Anoushka with a House of Commons Shield. She is the youngest as well as the sole female recipient of this high honour.

" I have to thank my Bapi for everything. He has done so much for me," she says about Ravi Shankar who has frequently been accused of ignoring all his students and promoting her aggressively.

Anoushka admits, " To a certain extent it is true that being the daughter of Ravi Shankar gives you some unfair advantages. I've performed in the best places in the world, had the opportunity of learning from masters like George Harrison, Yehudi Menuhin and Zubin Mehta. It's all because of Bapi. Sometimes the most talented people don't get right breaks as they don't have anyone to back them."

Her devotion to the sitar and to her father's guidance is unmistakable. Yes, he initially promoted her but today Anoushka can stand tall on her own as an extraordinary performer.

Ravi Shankar and Ustad Alla Rakha

Shankar 'happy' for Jones' success

Monday, February 24, 2003 Posted: 1:02 PM EST (1802 GMT)

Norah Jones, Ravi Shankar's daughter, swept the major Grammy categories Sunday night.   Birthday: 30.03.1979 Birthplace: New York City, NY, USA Occupation: Singer Sign: Aries

NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- While Norah Jones' music is little known in most of India, her sweep at the Grammys brought a wave of pride and cheer to a home in southern New Delhi, where her father sat watching the awards ceremony.

Jones is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, the 82-year-old sitarist who's India's best-known musician.

"It was such a joy seeing Norah getting so many Grammy Awards. I knew even as a child how talented she was and it makes me so happy to see how she has charmed everyone to such an extent with her singing," Shankar said in a written statement to The Associated Press.

Shankar is a three-time Grammy winner. His other daughter, Anoushka Shankar, also had a nomination Sunday night for best world music album.

"Norah is my daughter but she grew up in America ... I cannot take any credit for the music that she has excelled in," Shankar told the Star News television channel. "Her base is Western, jazz and country music."

Beating crowd favorite Bruce Springsteen, the 23-year-old Jones earned five Grammys, including album and record of the year, and her disc "Come Away With Me" was responsible for eight trophies overall. Her disc has sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and become the talk of the music business.

"I am absolutely thrilled. I can't tell you how happy I am," he said. "I was fully confident that she would win at least five or six. But when she won eight, I was surprised and very happy."

Shankar said in a newspaper interview last month that he'd thought of composing a piece for both daughters to perform together.

"But I don't want to force it upon them," he told The Hindustan Times. "It would be wonderful if it happened."

Shankar has had an estranged relationship with his daughter and her mother, New York concert producer Sue Jones. For 10 years, Norah Jones had no contact with her father, but the two since have made peace. Shankar recently saw his daughter perform.

"We sort of reconnected before all this happened," Jones said in May. "Truth be told, I wouldn't have wanted him to come see me in a little bar where everyone was talking. I'm over everything, I don't resent him. I just don't want him to be the focus of all my press."

Virgin Records, which released Jones' album in India, said it was preparing for a sharp increase in sales after the Grammys sweep.

"We have been selling a good amount of her CDs and cassettes even before she won the Grammys. It has been among our top five albums last year," said T.V.N. Sridhar, who handles sales and marketing for Virgin in northern India. "But now the big boom has started."

Uday Shankar with Simkie, the French dancer as Parvati in Tandava Nritya at Paris, 1931.

THE CREATIVE dance movement in India owes its growth to Uday Shankar. With his success in earning great respect for Indian dance in the 1930s, a unique movement of revival of classical dances had begun.

Though he had no formal training in any classical form, his dance was creative.

He used the essence of various traditions and techniques in his dance dramas and succeeded in presenting an integrated composition. His exclusive use of only Indian musical instruments is a remarkable feature.

The four brothers (from left):Debendra Shankar, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Uday Shankar, Rajendra Shankar.

His superb showmanship and perfection cast a spell on his audience, all over the world.

None has rendered a greater service than Uday Shankar did at the turn of the century, giving Indian dance its pride of place. His student, Shanti Bardhan, was another creative dancer who devised movements which had a distinct identity.

Uday Shankar as Lord Shiva.

Among Udya Shankar's other trainees and followers, Narendra Sharma, Sachin Shankar, Amala Shankar, Uday Shankar's daughter, Mamata Shankar, and son, Ananda Shankar, are carrying on his legacy. (The pictures are part of the photo exhibition (courtesy: Mrs. Amala Shankar), curated by Dr. Sunil Kothari and designed by Sumant Jayakrishna, organised for the IGNCA centenary celebrations.)

Ananda Shankar

To most people, "India's greatest musician" means Pandit Ravi Shankar, whose ragas briefly pacified the world in the tumultuous 1960s. And there are those who say Ravi's wife was better than he. But it was Ravi's nephew Ananda who became the voice of modern India in all its contrasting elements. In ways never previously imagined --much less executed even by other master musicians-- he alone merged Indian and western, classical and rock, lyrical and funky, exotic and commercial, traditional and progressive. Given the enormity of the task and the sharp contrast between his success and the failures of so many "raga rock" practitioners, Ananda Shankar can be seen as one of the greatest musical figures of the twentieth century.

The son of famous arranger-choreographer Uday Shankar & dancer Amala, Ananda had all of the expertise, talent, and perfectionists' dedication of the previous generation. He studied five years under Dr. Lalmani Misra, head of the Department of Music at Benaras Hindu University; following his intense tutelage, he spent two years abroad, where he studied western classical and pop as well as multi-media. While his ability to perform and compose rivalled that of his famous father and uncle, he identified more with his own generation.

His 1970 debut album on Reprise featured covers of tunes by the Rolling Stones and the Doors as well as his own (better) music. The album's success led to an expansion of his orchestra including dancers and multi-media effects. His wife Tanusree choreographed. After his first Indian LP was released, Ananda's music became a fixture on radio, television, and in theatre. Airlines, fashion shows, and the film industry recognized his as the modern sound of India. Even years after his death, his music can be heard at least on U.S. radio and in fashion shows, thanks largely to a reissue and a compilation.

Ananda was the great modernizer of Indian music, as influential as Mighty Sparrow and Kui Lee were in updating and promoting their respective traditions. He won the Indian equivalent of a Grammy Award for the score of "Chorus" in 1974. Other soundtracks featuring his work may have been released in India. Throughout his career, his sound remained fairly consistent, and his vision never flagged until his untimely death. Yet India and the world still have not completely caught on to his talent and significance.

Ananda Shankar & his Music became legendary in the 1990s simply because Capitol picked "Streets of Calcutta" and "Dancing Drums" for a Blue Note break-beat compilation. But there is plenty more material of the same caliber, even on that album. Later, rarer albums yield even more impressive music, and there are plenty of tracks waiting to be discovered and played by adventurous DJs. Sa-Re-Ga Machan, a funky, strange, and exotic madhouse ("Jungle King" even reprises "Streets of Calcutta" a bit), may be the true masterpiece.

The beat of the tabla is as vital to Indian music as the conga to African and Latin. While the Moog, sitar, and Western themes distinguish Shankar's music as fresh and original, the cacaphony of tabla beats grounds the music in simmering Bombay, timeless ragas, and the splendor of Shankar musical royalty. In other places, such as the Missing You tribute to Uday, Ananda uses vibes and flute to great effect. And still elsewhere the elements of Indian soundtracks, such as occasional female voice and strings, add power and excitement.

Call it futuristic exoticism or Indian soul music. Like other examples of the best revolutionary music, the wonders of Ananda Shankar will sound forever ahead of their time: definitely far out, and yet as familiar and comforting as Mom's cooking