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Stories   >   Anoushka Shankar talks to Forbes India about music and the importance of remaining true

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Anoushka Shankar talks to Forbes India about music and the importance of remaining true

Posted: March 2, 2020

When Anoushka Shankar performed her first solo sitar recital, she was 13 years old. It was a 10-minute performance on a stage that she shared with maestros Zakir Hussain, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Vijay Raghav Rao, in an auditorium packed with 2,500 people. The occasion was the 75th birthday of her father Pandit Ravi Shankar. That was 25 years ago.

Shankar, now 38, is a six-time Grammy nominated artiste who, much like her father,  has helped popularise the sitar among a global audience today with what she calls ‘crossover music'.

In February, Shankar was in India with her latest EP Love Letters, which is probably her most personal work so far, portraying a very vulnerable and raw side of the sitarist. The collection touches upon themes like health, heartbreak and domestic upheaval. Starting April, she will be touring to commemorate the birth centenary of her father, and will be performing for the first time in London with her half-sister, multiple Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, Norah Jones. 

Shankar spoke to Forbes India about how classical Indian music has evolved over the years and the importance of carving a niche for herself. READ THE Q&A

PHOTO: Aditi Tailang; Location courtesy: The Oberoi, Nariaman Point