Straight from the strings

Working her magic on the sitar’s strings right from the age of nine, Anoushka Shankar, the daughter of sitar maestro late Pandit Ravi Shankar, needs no introduction. At a time when the world had majorly seen male sitar players, Anoushka has originated and nurtured the idea that women can play the instrument too, and how. Within a few years of her professional debut (at the age of 13), this feminist sitarist has risen to become a five-time Grammy Award nominee, and has been transcending the physical barriers, addressing  global issues through music.

As Anoushka is getting ready to pack her bags to visit Chennai as a part of her India tour, with her latest album Land of Gold, she speaks to DC about how art can build bridges during conflict, her Tamil roots, some of her favourite memories in India and a lot more.

Q What does it mean to you to be performing in India?

 India is one of the places I call home, and also where my roots are, so it’s hard to pick memories. I lived and went to school in Delhi for several years, and Delhi remained a base for me all through my teenage years and twenties. I also have a relationship with Kolkata and Chennai due to my Bengali and Tamil parents.

Then, of course Mumbai, where I have so many friends in the art worlds. Bengaluru, where I have family and Goa where I’ve spent many winters. How to pick a memory? Here are some random ones that are probably lesser-known  — I launched my book about my father in New Delhi when I was 20, and it was the first time Manish Arora custom-made clothes for me. I felt like a princess and felt so proud to have released a book of my own writing. In Goa, around the turn of the millenium, I used to be able to go completely incognito and could really be free with my friends and let my hair down. Dancing is one of my favourite things in the world. I had my first kiss in New Delhi when I was 12, with a boy from my class who I had an insane crush on. We’re still friends today. My father used to get especially nostalgic whenever we came to Mumbai for a concert. Everywhere we drove, he was constantly pointing out the locations of beautiful memories from his past. I loved hearing the stories that used to surface.

Q What are your favourite memories of Chennai?

I have especially vivid memories from my young childhood visiting the city. Memories of playing with my mum’s friends’ kids, and of watching Bharatanatyam classes taught by dear Shanta Dhananjayan and V.P. Dhananjayan, as my mother studied under them.

Q What was the idea behind Land of Gold? What kind of conversation did you wish this album helped initiate?

I was nursing my newborn son last summer and watching a lot of news (on refugees). It affected me so deeply and painfully to see how many children were suffering on these harrowing journeys to safety, and how disgustingly they were being treated when they reached Europe. As a mother, I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be trying to bring my kids to safety like that. The album turned into my emotional response — at times the music is very angry, sometimes heartbroken, and ultimately, hopeful, in a bid for connection with each other. We need to see each other as the same, otherwise we lose the ability to be empathetic with another person’s suffering, and it’s my belief that a lot of the world’s troubles come from the successful desensitisation of people to others’ suffering

Q What do you think about the current scenario of  political and industry pressure on Pakistani artistes in India?

I think isolationism is never the answer. Art can build bridges and connect people, which is especially important when politics is being divisive.

Q What is it like being married to another person in the creative space? Do you and your husband (Joe Wright) inspire each other’s works?
 
We inspire each other and also help each other as sounding boards.

Q What kind of equation do you share with your half sister, Norah Jones? What do you think of her music?
 
She has an innate talent but also huge skill both as a vocalist and an instrumentalist. The combo of her on piano and vocals is pretty unique. She’s also a great songwriter and has a huge sense of artistic integrity, which is perhaps what I admire the most.

Q How do you manage a globe-trotting career while being a mother?

It’s bloody hard, there’s no way to beat around the bush on that one, and I think it does women a disservice to be too breezy when answering questions about that. All working mothers struggle, regardless of whether in entertainment or not, to manage keeping afloat at work while also making sure their children’s needs are fulfilled. Women are heroic and incredible!

(Anoushka Shankar will perform in Chennai on December 2 at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao concert hall)