Comments on: Remembering Ravi Shankar, the ‘Godfather of World Music’

By: Swati Pandey

Swati Pandey — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:34:00 +0000

Great article about a brilliant man. I sympathize with the author’s point that Shankar helped bridge the cultural gap for a generation. The first time I saw Ravi Shankar I was 11 years old and in a packed crowded auditorium in Cerritos, Southern California’s unofficial “Little India”, an hour’s drive from where I was born and raised, where my parents moved after leaving India. It was my first concert ever. I was excited. But when the music started, all that preliminary tuning that seemed in fact mis-tuned to the scales that I knew, I just didn’t get it. I’d heard his name. I’d heard that he hung out with the Beatles. That impressed me because I was schooled to like rock and roll and rebellion and other seemingly un-Indian things by all of American pop culture and also by my older brother, who by my estimation was the coolest guy in the world, and who unfortunately was away at college that weekend. The concert lasted for what seemed like days. I couldn’t see because all the adults around me kept standing up to cheer or sway. I kept trying to see this Ravi Shankar guy but all I could catch were scraps of the fabric of his clothes, the blur of his fingers. I sulked until, at last, I stopped trying to see or compare the music to anything I knew. I stood up and closed my eyes and held my parents’ hands. We swayed with everyone else in a wave. It was the first time, and the only time, we hummed the same tune and loved it the same way.

By: Manasee Shah

Manasee Shah — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:03:00 +0000

I was lucky enough to hear Ravi Shankar play twice live at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. What struck me about both concerts was the great diversity of attendees. It wasn’t just Indians who were completely entranced by Pandit Shankar’s music, but everyone from young college students who were hearing him for the first time to the oldest people who had been listening to him for the span of their lifetimes.
Not only did I truly enjoy hearing Pandit Shankar and his companions (Ali Akhbar Khan was playing with him at the second concert – UNBELIEVABLE!), but the experiences made me re-consider my attitude toward Indian music which I had always avoided until that first concert.

By: Rahul Deshetty

Rahul Deshetty — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:05:00 +0000

we will sure’ll miss you Ravi Shankar, thank you for all the great music and thank you for anoushka shankar and nora jones

By: Janet

Janet — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 02:01:00 +0000

My most Sincere Condolence to the family, and fans of Mr. Ravi Shankar. He was such a humble man, may he rest in total peace.