Many people, especially young people, have started listening to sitar since George Harrison, one of the Beatles, became my disciple. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
To me, you know, from my childhood I always had a fascination for United States. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
My secret ambition was always to provide music for animation films: something with an Indian theme, either a fairy tale or mythological tale or on the Krishna theme. I still have a very deep desire, but these sorts of chances don’t always come. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
My music has a very spiritual background, a sanctity that is almost like worship. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
In India, I have been called a ‘destroyer.’ But that is only because they mixed my identity as a performer and as a composer. As a composer I have tried everything, even electronic music and avant-garde. But as a performer I am, believe me, getting more classical and more orthodox, jealously protecting the heritage that I have learned. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
There are thousands of ragas, and they are all connected with different times of the day, like sunrise or night or sunset. It is all based on 72 of what we call ‘mela’ or scales. And we have principally nine moods, ranging from peacefulness to praying, or the feeling of emptiness you get by sitting by the ocean. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
I believe in one thing: that anyone who is able to do something good for someone, I mean, should be praised. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
I have always had an instinct for doing new things. Call it good or bad, I love to experiment. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
In the U.K., classical music is composed by individuals and written down. Indian music is based on certain sequences called ragas. When I perform live, 95% of the music is improvised: it never sounds the same twice. Ravi Shankar Read Quote
