Sitar Maestro PT. Ravi Shankar Passes Away :( - Page 2

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Dear Varsha,

Thank you for this heartfelt message.

I attended a concert by Pandit Ravi Shankar in the Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi in 1976, when he played 5 ragas from 10 pm to 4 am. By the end of it, youngsters like me, who could not have afforded the front row seats (I was very junior in the diplomatic service then) had gone and seated ourselves on the stage, within 6-8 feet of Panditji. I never got up in all that while, and when it all ended, my legs were numb!

I went backstage, touched his feet and got his blessings. Then I went back home, with my head still full of Puriya Dhanashree, had coffee and got back to the normal routine.

I also remember the annual concerts in honour of his father-in-law, Ustad Allauddin Khan of the Maihar gharana that he and sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, his brother in law, used to organise in New Delhi in November in the 1970s and 1980s,

Lastly, during his spectacular 70th birthday celebrations at the enormous Siri Fort auditorium in New Delhi, spread over 3 evenings in 1990, we similarly clung to our seats fro 6 pm to 2 am, as a galaxy of legendary artists played in tribute to him. His own performance of 2 1/2 hours on the very last night was a blaze of passion and lyricism that belied his age.

Such as he come but once in a thousand years, and I feel blessed that I could witness his genius in person.

Shyamala