“Although it is a time for sorrow and sadness, it is also a time for all of us to give thanks and to be grateful that we were able to have him as a part of our lives. He will live forever in our hearts and in his music,” said the family of 92-year-old sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar Ravi, who died in Southern California on Tuesday. Shankar, a three-time Grammy winner with legendary appearances at the 1967 Monterey Festival and at Woodstock, had been in fragile health for several years and last Thursday underwent surgery, his family said in a statement.
In India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office posted a Twitter message calling Shankar a “national treasure and global ambassador of India’s cultural heritage.”
“An era has passed away with ... Ravi Shankar. The nation joins me to pay tributes to his unsurpassable genius, his art and his humility,” the Indian premier added.
Shankar had suffered from upper respiratory and heart issues over the past year and underwent heart-valve replacement surgery last week at a hospital in San Diego, south of Los Angeles.
The surgery was successful but he was unable to recover.
“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the surgeons and doctors taking care of him, his body was not able to withstand the strain of the surgery. We were at his side when he passed away,” his wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka said.
Shankar lived in both India and the United States. He is also survived by his daughter, Grammy-winning singer Norah Jones, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Shankar performed his last concert with his daughter Anoushka on November 4 in Long Beach, California, the statement said. The night before he underwent surgery, he was nominated for a Grammy for his latest album The Living Room Sessions, Part 1.
His family said that memorial plans will be announced at a later date and requested that donations be made to the Ravi Shankar Foundation.
The life of a maestro
April 7, 1920
Ravi Shankar is born as Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury in a Bengali family
1938 to 1944
Shankar trains with Ustad Allauddin Khan of Maihar
1941
He marries Ustad Allauddin’s daughter
1949 to 1956
He starts work as a music director for All India Radio (AIR) at New Delhi and recording music for HMV
1956
Shankar begins focusing on foreign tours
1958
He participates in the 10th anniversary celebrations of the United Nations and Unesco music festival in Paris
1962
He establishes the Kinnara School of Music in Mumbai
1967
Shankar opens a branch of the Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles, California
1967
He wins his first Grammy Award for album West Meets East with Menuhin
1971
Shankar raises money for refugees from East Pakistan
1972
He wins his second Grammy for best-selling concert album (for East Pakistan)
1974
George Harrison records two albums with him: Shankar Family & Friends and Festival of India both composed by Ravi himself
1974
He suffers his first heart attack in Chicago
1976
Shankar founds the Research Institute for Music and Performing Arts in Varanasi
1979
His affair with concert producer Sue Jones led to birth of daughter Norah Jones
1982
Shankar is nominated for an Oscar in 1982 for his work on the film Gandhi
1986 to 1992
Shankar serves as a Rajya Sabha member in the Parliament of India, nominated by Rajiv Gandhi (Indian Prime Minister at the time)
2001
He wins his third Grammy for Full Circle concert at Carnegie Hall in New York
2010
The Ravi Shankar Foundation starts a record label using a variation of the name of his collaboration with Menuhin: East Meets West Music
November 4, 2012
Ravi performs in concert in Long Beach, California, with his daughter and fellow sitar player Anoushka
December 12, 2012
Ravi Shankar passes away in Southern California, at the age of 92
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2012.
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