Author: Swapan Kumar Bondyopadhya
Publisher: Roli Books
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 190
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8174363998
Description
Baba Allauddin Khan’s daughter,Drawing on interviews with Annapurna Devi and her family members, admirers, critics and students, Swapan Kumar Bondyopadhyay offers an absorbing portrait of a brilliant individual, who shuns public performances devoting her time instead to her music, her students and to keeping her father’s legacy alive.
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s sister, representative of the Maihar-Senia Gharana-Annapurna Devi has an illustrious lineage. And she is a star in her own right-she is the only female surbahar player in the country.
Yet Annapurna’s life is shrouded in mystery. Though she is a true guru to her shishyas, to others she is an eccentric recluse or simply too strong minded. This first authorised biography offers a glimpse into her life, not to reveal or to shock but to set the record straight - her turbulent years with Ravi Shanker, the death of her only son, her single- minded pursuit of music and a life in seclusion. Drawing on interviews with Annapurna Devi and her family members, admirers, critics and students, Swapan Kumar Bondyopadhyay offers an absorbing portrait of a brilliant individual, who shuns public performances devoting her time instead to her music, her students and to keeping her father’s legacy alive.
Perhaps the comparisons, were inevitable. It was reportedly said that in her (Annapurna’s) music there was eighty per cent Baba Allauddhin Khan, while Ali Akbar Khan had seventy per cent and Ravi Shankar had about forty per cent.
Ravi Shankar wondered, Why people do not accept that it is possible to love more than one woman at a time. He can do it. He has learnt from his own life that love is of different kinds –love for one’s wife, love for a friend and love for the other woman. Each love is complementary to another. It is a search for fulfillment. It is a pity that Annapurna fails to appreciate this. She is an artist with a large heart, so why is she so guarded in matters of love.
Contents
FOREWORD
CAST
PREFACE
BOOK ONE
The Early Years in Maihar (1917-41)
Annapurna and Ravi Shankar (1938-42)
Annapurna and Ravi Shankar (1943-56)
BOOK TWO
The Turbulent Years of Subho Shankar (1942-92)
The Death of Subho Shankar (1992)
BOOK THREE
Annapurna Alone
BOOK FOUR
Annapurna as a Teacher
BOOK FIVE
Annapurna on Annapurna
BOOK SIX
Rooshi and Annapurna
Searching for Annapurna Interviews with Rooshi
EPILOGUE
LIST OF CONCERTS
CHRONOLOGY
SELECTED READING
GLOSSARY