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Some unheard melodies
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Annapurna Shankar is a symbol of all those who suffer and shine in silence, her biographer Swapan Kumar Bondyopadhyay tells ANJANA RAJAN
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A LABOUR OF LOVE: Swapan Kumar Bondyopadhyay, who has penned a biography of Annapurna Shankar
After decades of a quiet existence during which a shroud of secrecy seemed to cloak Annapurna Devi, and myths hovered round her persona like wisps of cloud round the moon, the great musician decided recently to step out of her seclusion and allow the world a glimpse into her life through a biography by Swapan Kumar Bondyopadhyay, a writer and musician who tenaciously persuaded her for years before he got her go-ahead.
Ironically most people remember Annapurna Devi not as one of India's foremost musicians, not as the only woman sur bahar player, daughter and disciple of the legendary musician and guru, Baba Allauddin Khan, but as the former wife of sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. Not that this aspect of her life need be ignored. However, it is important to put into perspective the contribution of this completely dedicated but self-effacing musician as an individual and as a guru to stalwarts like Hindustani flautist Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, the late sitar maestro Nikhil Banerjee, Basant Kabra, flautist Nityanand Haldipur and others.
Changed perceptions
Bondyopadhyay admits in this Roli publication - appropriately titled "An Unheard Melody: Annapurna Devi" - that he initially thought of Annapurna Devi as a woman whose difficult life had turned her into a claustrophobic individual with hysterical and suicidal tendencies. Over the 12 years he has been privileged to know her - for it is not easy to get into the home of an artiste whose door carries bell ringing instructions and a warning that the door will not be opened on Mondays and Thursdays - his approach has palpably changed: "For me she is almost a deity!"
He emphasises her warm, human qualities. Far from being the haughty upholder of a musical legacy she feels the world cannot appreciate, he explains, she has transcended the need to perform since she does not need to indulge her ego in that way. She presents her music through her disciples.
Again, belying her spartan image is a sparkling sense of humour. "She is so witty. When I took my son to meet her he touched her feet and I asked her to place her hand on his head in blessing. She said, `No, no, it would spoil his hairstyle!'," laughs Bondyopadhyay, who also plays the sitar and has been "tutored" by Annapurna though he does not claim disciple status. Interestingly, though Bondyopadhyay has steered clear of prying details, he says some accuse him of writing an `anti-Ravi Shankar book'. Yet others feel he has not gone into the Ravi-Annapurna relationship enough. Both views surprise the author. To the first, he responds, "It is not possible for me to criticise him. He is in his own place." To those who ask for more details, he points out that the significant part is her life after the separation.
Finally though, says the author, an English professor who loves to quote Faulkner, "Annapurna ji is only a symbol of poor mankind. Of those who suffer in silence and shine in silence."
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