Musical career

Ravi Shankar gave up a possible dance career, and starting in 1938 he spent long years of dedicated study under his guru Allaudin Khan. His first public performances in India came in 1939. Formal training ended in 1944 and he worked out of Bombay. He began writing scores for film and ballet and started a recording career with HMV's Indian affiliate. He became music director of All India Radio in the 1950s.

Family life

When Ravi Shankar was 21, he married 14-year-old Annapurna Devi, daughter of his guru Baba Allauddin Khan and sister of Ali Akbar Khan in Almora. The marriage produced one son, Shubhendra Shankar, but ended in divorce.

Honours

Shankar is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is a member of the United Nations International Rostrum of Composers. He has received many awards and honours from his own country and from all over the world, including fourteen honorary doctorates, the Padma Vibhushan, Desikottam, the Magsaysay Award from Manila, three Grammy Awards, the Fukuoka Grand Prize from Japan, and the Crystal Award from Davos, with the title "Global Ambassador", to name but some. In 1986 he was nominated to be a member of the Rajya Sabha, India's upper house of Parliament, for six years. In 2002, he was conferred the inaugural Indian Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award. The Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, was awarded to him in 1999. In 1998 he was awarded the Polar Music Prize with Ray Charles.

Films

• Music Direction Apu Trilogy. Directed by Satyajit Ray
• Raga (1971). Directed by Howard Worth.
• The Concert for Bangladesh (1972).
• Concert for George (2003).
• "Forbidden Image". Directed by Jeremy Marre

Bibliography

• Rag Mala (1997) (Autobiography edited by George Harrison)
• Learning Indian music: A systematic approach (1979)
• My Music, My Life (1968) (Autobiography)
• Music memory (1967)