Shankar marks 80th year with autobiography

Ravi Shankar, living legend of the sitar

LONDON (Reuters) -- Ravi Shankar -- living legend of the sitar, global emissary of Indian music and mentor to George Harrison -- turns 80 next April.

To celebrate, he has written the story of his long and colorful life.

"Raga Mala" hits book stores in late September and is full of photos and tales of Shankar's childhood in Paris, his friendship with the Beatles guitarist and his rise to international acclaim.

Shankar said it was Harrison who encouraged him to follow up on his 1968 book "My Music, My Life."

"He said 'What a fantastic life you've had, I think you should write something about it'," Shankar told Reuters in an interview. "Bless him, he has been very inspiring."

Harrison, who calls Shankar "the godfather of world music," penned the introduction about the man who taught him to play the sitar and helped him to explore Indian spirituality.

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"When I first met Ravi, I saw in him a quality that I'd always aspired to," Harrison said in the forward. "In fact there isn't anyone I've ever heard of, in the West at least, who has got such brilliant musicianship."

The world via Varanasi and Paris

In person, Shankar radiates a seemingly impossible blend of serenity, sincerity, warmth and humility. His eyes sparkle and his soft voice is filled with laughter.

While his earlier book stressed the tradition and spiritual attachment of Indian music, "Raga Mala" traces Shankar's life from his birth in 1920 in the holy city of Varanasi to his still hectic schedule of touring and recording.

"This one is different because here I have emphasized more personal things, especially the whole childhood parts and the association with my brother and touring in the West," he said.

"My brother had his career as a painter then changed to a dancer and formed the troupe and brought me along with my brothers. That was way back in 1930. I was just 10 then. For the next eight years it was a fantastic experience traveling with him all over the world and coming back to Paris."

For a young artistic boy, the French capital was a whirl of culture and parties where he mixed with musical and literary luminaries like Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein and Henry Miller.

"In my childhood I was playing many different instruments -- sitar, flute, tabla -- and also mainly I was a dancer. But it was my guru's suggestion that I should take one particular instrument and try to master it as much as possible and somehow sitar happened to be it," Shankar said.

"Even now I cannot say that I have mastered it because that's the beauty of our music -- you always discover new things while you're playing. You are learning almost."

By the time he was 25, Shankar had composed "Sare Jahan Se Accha," the most famous national song in India, and was gathering a huge following at home with his sitar recitals.

He began opening Western ears to Indian music with solo tours of Europe, Canada and the United States in 1956-57.

Shankar plays the sitar

Meet the Beatles

Shankar was already famous in classical circles by the time he met Harrison and the other Beatles at a party in London in June 1966, although he had little idea about the Fab Four or their music.

"I was immediately charmed and attracted to George because of his sincerity," he said.

Harrison had already played some rudimentary sitar on "Norwegian Wood" but wanted to learn properly.

"For a few weeks I taught him (in London) and he came to India for another six weeks or so. After that he became so busy that he couldn't pursue it," Shankar said. "Otherwise he would have been a wonderful sitar player, I'm sure of it."

The two still meet as often as they can, whether in London or at Shankar's homes in California and India.

Shankar's links with the Beatles catapulted him to a broader and younger audience. But the hippie world of drugs and free love he saw at places like the Monterey pop festival and Woodstock clashed with what he had learned from his guru.

"He belonged to the old school, which really influenced me a great deal because he was very much against any drugs or alcohol," Shankar said.

"The whole drug culture -- everything -- they got it so mixed up with Indian philosophy, tantra, mantra, Kama Sutra, hash, LSD. It was such a mess. At the same time I was all of a sudden a superstar, a cult guru and all that," he said.

"It was a difficult role. Luckily I was about 47 then -- I was not very young -- so I had my head in the right place."

At the same time, Shankar faced criticism in India from people who thought he was selling himself in an immoral West.

"I went through this period of suffering and feeling of guilt as if I had been soiled or done something wrong," he said. "Luckily I stuck to my principles."

George Harrison calls Shankar "the godfather of world music"

Still going strong

Shankar's commitment to his roots has brought innumerable awards from all corners of the globe as well as the highest civilian honor at home -- the "Bharat Ratna" (Jewel of India).

Packing nearly 80 years into "Raga Mala" would have been hard enough if Shankar was showing any signs of slowing down.

"It was very difficult because I know of professional writers who take off time to write a book. Here I was traveling all the time, recording, playing concerts and in between I had to do all this," he said.

Shankar has passed his love of the sitar to his 18-year-old daughter Anoushka, who has been playing professionally for five years and often joins her father on stage for a family duet.

The master is also building a center in Delhi to preserve his vast archives and take a few talented young musicians under his wing for what he calls "higher training."

But when all is said and done, how would he most like to be remembered?

"More than anything for my sitar and as a musician," Shankar said, running his hand across the strings of the instrument. "Of course I'd like to be remembered as a good person also, which I may or may not be, but one always wants that."

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