Annapurna Devi: An Unheard Melody

Perhaps the comparisons… were inevitable. It was reportedly said that in her (Annapurna’s) music there was eighty per cent Baba Allauddin 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 fulfilment. 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. Baba Allauddin Khan’s daughter, Pandit Ravi Shankar’s first wife, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s sister, representative of 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 strongminded. 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 Shankar, 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.