[pinchyfingers]

I saw Ravi and Anoushka play together 10 years ago and it is still one of the best performances I've ever witnessed. Anoushka broke a string, which I guess takes awhile to replace on a sitar, and Ravi just started giving a lesson on percussion with out missing a beat or breaking a sweat. He started lecturing about music and having the tabla players demonstrate. I left the Kimmel Center smiling ear to ear.

Sometimes talk about things like serenity and presence is shallow, because the authentic experience of spiritual depth is rare... Even in a room with 2500 people you could feel Ravi in the room and know you were in the presence of greatness. I guess that's what happens after years of dedication and spiritual discipline.

I won't hope to be half the man Ravi was. I'll be lucky to have even a speck of that kind of mastery in my life. I regret not seeking him out while he was alive. It would have been incredible to hear his music live one more time and to give him a hug and thank him for his immense contribution to the world. I'm grateful that I was even in the same room as him once and I'm grateful to live in a world create beautiful music and beautiful lives.

[kamaal]

Pandit Ravi Shankar was just one of those masters from Indian subcontinent who happened to get famous and so comes to attention.

Back here in India, such people are quite common[Not to say they are all over the place, but you just don't hear about many of them]. Most of them just don't come up because of lack of encouragement, and proper ways of monetizing their art.

Just to tell you. Back in the past when I was in school. We would practice for hours singing devotional songs in Carnatic music. There was once a inter school competition, where you could sing in any genre you want. Our opposition school was totally convinced our 'old music' didn't stand a chance. To add to our bad luck, they had a complete band that could play with piano, guitar and band. We had none of that. Despite that, our singing was so damn awesome- we didn't just win. But looked something like 100 times more awesome than they were. In fact when the results were announced the judges said, they hadn't heard anything like that before. Coming from average middle class background, I couldn't even convince my parents to come and watch how I sang. No photographs were taken, none of it was recorded. On top of it my parents thought singing was an utter waste of time, and If I get too much into it I wouldn't study well- And so won't be able to get a good job. I wasn't able to rekindle my passion for music until later after I started earning.

There isn't a shortage of how many such competitions I participated in.

You will not believe how much of such talent goes wasted here. And even talent that some how continues into a full practice never gets any attention. Artists often live in poverty, and perform for peanuts. What that basically means is even talented kids don't want to take it up as a full time profession.

[pessimist]

I think this is exaggerated on many levels.

1. There are dozens of famous and wealthy Indian classical musicians - Hariprasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain, Amjad Ali Khan, etc. There are hundreds if not thousands of lesser known musicians who make a living by teaching and performing in small venues.

2. Of course, many talented people are prevented by social custom or poverty from following their dream, but its simply not the case that there are hundreds of unrecognized geniuses walking around.

3. Ravi Shankar's success was not totally accidental - he didn't just "happen" to become popular. He was a great communicator, and he appropriately structured his music to be not too complex for beginners and westerners to understand. If you listed to his rivals like Ustad Vilayat Khan for example, they went the opposite way and added layers of complexity and did not achieve popularity among the masses.

[kamaal]

I never said Ravi Shankar was 'just' lucky, did I?

But frankly this is survivor ship bias at its very best. Looking at it from my very own parents stand point. What are the odds that somebody like me was going to be the next Zakir Hussain[Who himself happens to be the son of a very famous Tabla player]?

So there you see the problem. If there isn't a way to make good money doing music. People are not going to be taking it up as a full time profession.

[moultano]

One thing I was really surprised by when I first visited India, no buskers! Every other big city I've ever visited has had people playing music everywhere for tips. Nowhere to be found in India.

[kamaal]

Such people who play for tips[In India they are actually called beggars] are found in local trains, or bus stops where as a foreigner you are least likely to visit.

So now you know that its not a very honorable way of making money in India.

[brnstz]

It's not considered a particularly honorable way of making money in the west either. We're just less concerned about honor.

[moultano]

I don't know if honor even enters into it, it's just not considered a particularly effective way of making money.

[brnstz]

You're right, honor doesn't factor into it in the U.S. But it sounds like in India, musicians don't busk because they are afraid of being perceived as beggars. Which is unfortunate.