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(This article was first published on 7 April 2018. It has been reposted from The Quint’s archives to mark Pandit Ravi Shankar’s death anniversary.)
“No, I didn’t learn the sitar from him”, is my typical answer when people (and there are many) ask me: “Did you learn the sitar from the maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar?”
So they ask, “Why do you call him guru ji then?”
“Because I learnt much more”, is my answer. 26 August 2001 is the day I joined Pt Ravi Shankar’s office in Lodi Estate as his office administrator; 12 December 2012, the day his body left the world, and till this moment, and all the moments to come – guru ji, Pt Ravi Shankar has, and always will be my teacher for life.
To have known him beyond his music and art has been one of the biggest blessings of my life. One could learn so much just by looking at him. How he spoke to people around him, his domestic staff, his extended family members like me, the so-called VIPs at events – just by being in his company, observing him silently, and holding his hand while he walked, I learned so much. And I am still trying to carry forth his rich legacy, which includes, but is not limited to:
After many years when he saw me on KBC, he told Chinnamma to call me up and ask me why I didn’t tell him that I am coming on the show. And I always wondered how can he love each one of us so much?
I met guru ji regularly when he spent his winter months in Delhi, but my husband couldn’t, so they both barely met. When Zubin (Anoushka Shankar’s elder son) was born, we had a small party at the Ravi Shankar Centre. My husband also went that day and met guru ji. They were meeting after a long gap and guru ji asked, “Aniruddha, so how is Indian Oil doing?”
Aniruddha works for Indian Oil but how many of us would care to remember such a thing about someone we hardly meet? Doesn’t this man surprise you? He surprised me for sure, and this time, Aniruddha was shocked too. He said, “at 90, how can he remember what company I work for?”
My last meeting with guru ji was in February 2012, at an annual music and dance festival that we organise at the Ravi Shankar Centre. For the first time he said, “Richa left working for us long back, but she didn’t leave us”. And then he just placed his hand on my head and said, “Bless you beta”.
Wish I knew at that moment that he probably knew that he would never see me again, but yes, I am blessed. Happy birthday, guru ji. For the world, he lives through his music, but for us, he lives through his smile, the touch of his hands, his humility, his kindness, his love, care, compassion, it’s an endless list.
(Richa Anirudh is the host of YouTube channel ‘Zindagi with Richa’.)
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