Ravi Shankar

I was sixteen when Ustad Allauddin Khan carved the dancer out of me and forged a sitarist in his fire. Those years in Maihar taught me: technique without bhava is empty; innovation without roots, meaningless. Yes, the West calls me a 'raga master'—but I am merely the channel. When I played with Menuhin or Harrison, it was not fusion I sought, but understanding. Their counterculture mistook my ragas for drugs; I gave them the notes, they made the trip. Yet still the monsoon waits in my strings for those who listen past the noise.