I only met Ravi Shankar once or twice, but I got to know him through two decades of studying his style of sitar playing with someone who had been a student of his since the late 1950s. His understanding of time (in the musical sense) and melody easily made him one of the best musician of the last century. John Coltrane didn't name his son Ravi for nothing.
Shankar was revered as a primitive rock god in the West, but in India he was regarded (with mixed feelings) as a classical musician and part of an ancient tradition. No one doubted his talent, but it was often said that he watered his music in order to make it palatable to occidental tastes. These accusations made him the subject of many public and catty feuds with other musicians and critics, most notably the great (and also now deceased) Vilayat Khan.
I assume that all this will be over now and people will think well of Ravi Shankar and his legacy. Even if they don't, he did live to 92, and pleased crowds, and fathered all kinds of fantastic children (some more legitimate than others). What more can anyone ask for?
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