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| Sunday, 10 February 2002 |
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Features |  |
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In her father's footsteps The 81-year old world-famous sitar maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar, is "the most wonderful and loving father on earth" for Anoushka - the 19-year-old pretty and giggly teenager.
The tremendous age gap between the father and the daughter seems to be working doubly well in her case. He is both her father and her guru. For Ravi Shankar, Anoushka is not only his daughter but an exceptionally talented musician too, someone to carry forward his legacy. Anoushka was born in London in 1981 to very liberal-minded parents with music in her genes and a silver spoon in her mouth. She had her schooling in America and has travelled extensively with her parents all over the globe. The family is based in San Diego but she spends her winters in New Delhi and summers in Europe. Anoushka is a very friendly, soft-spoken and socially aware teenager. A voracious reader, she is very much a representative of her generation.
She started learning sitar from her father when she was just nine years old. She gave her first stage performance in New Delhi on her father's 75th birthday, in 1995. That was also the year when she had just entered her teens. Since her first public performance at the age of thirteen. Anoushka has cut two solo albums and has performed extensively in United States, Europe, India and in several Asian countries. Her first album "Anoushka" was released in 1998 and the second called "Anurag" in August 2000. She has also played at two fund raising concerts - for the Tibet Foundation, and very recently at New Delhi's Siri Fort Auditorium for the Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund. On being asked why she opted for the sitar, she says "It was at my mother's suggestion that my dad started teaching me. Initially, I was not very keen but after my first performance and the appreciation I got for it, I really took to it seriously. Now it is my passion as well as my profession. It is my first love though I like to play the piano too." She spends between two to five hours practising everyday, usually with her father. Did she find her father's fame and mastery of the instrument a help or a hindrance? "Of course it is of great help. Actually I think it is both. I get so much exposure, so much media attention and recognition as Ravi Shanakr's daughter, which I find quite natural. But on the flip side there are also higher expectations, more criticism, the inevitable comparison with my dad. So I think it is two sided and it really balances out", is her quick reply. With so much media glare on her how does she cope with it at such a young age? Does she get mobbed on the street? She laughs heartily, "I just enjoy it, getting mobbed... Oh no, not yet, but I do get recognised. You see I was born with it and because I have grown up seeing it with my father, it does not seem so strange to me. It seems part of life." What are her other interests? All books by Ayn Rand are her favourites and she loves reading the Mahabharata. Her future plans? "I have got a busy tour of concerts, recordings in Europe, USA and Asia lined up for me this year and early next year.... my hands are completely full for now." Anoushka is too young to even think of marriage as yet. "I will eventually get married some day but one thing I am sure of: I will not marry another musician. I am wary of competition at home," she says emphatically with tongue firmly in cheek. (India perspectives) South Pacific on stage this week
The 'Canterbury Tales' proved to be a success for the students of the Colombo International School and now the senior school students are rehearsing Oscar Hammerstein's enjoyable musical South Pacific. The musical will go an the boards of the CIS auditorium on Friday February 15 and Saturday February 16 at 7 p.m. on each day. An ambitious project the students are being trained and directed by Bruce Fergueson Elder who was the driving force behind Canterbury Tales. In this production of South Pacific, Bruce Elder has adapted three scenes, added music of his own and has written a song for inclusion in the show. The score will be played by the school's orchestra trained by Prashaalini Pieris and the junior school music teacher. Choreography is by Mrs. Heindricks. Bruce Elder who hails from Northern Ireland has involved himself in theatrical productions not only in Ireland but also in Oxford, Cambridge and Nairobi. Before he came over to Sri Lanka he was actively involved in the productions of his company 'Phoenix Players' in Nairobi. The company stages two productions a year and he returns to Nairobi after South Pacific which will be his last production in Sri Lanka, Bruce Elder will go back to acting in theatrical productions. Gayathri Peiris in concert with Chamber Orchestra The Amsterdam Chamber Orchestra will be in concert at the Lionel Wendt Theatre on Monday February 18, organised by the Mount Lavinia Hotel. Renowned for their artistry the Chamber Orchestra was formed to accommodate performances which range from reinforcing other classical ensembles to accompanying talented soloists. For their concert on Monday February 18, the orchestra will feature Gayathri Peiris in works by Mozart and Bizet as well perform the music of Haydn's and Schubert. The program for the evening will include Franz Joseph Haydins, Sinfonia Concertante in B Flat Major for Oboe, Violin, Basoon, Cello and Orchestra, and Franz Schuberts Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major. Gayathri Peiris will sing Mozart's 'Porgi Amore' and 'Voi che Sapete' from Le Nozze di Figaro, and Bizet's "L'amour est un oisean rebelle" from Carmen. In the performance of Haydn's work Ron Beek (violin), Jean Decroos (Cello), Nora Wolfensberger (oboe) and Ludian Schaling (bassoon) are featured. Box Plan at Lionel Wendt. Words for those who deserve respect In every society there are men and women who deserve more respect and honour than others. There are many ways to show this respect. One is the way language is used to refer to him. Some languages, like Sinhala, use 'words of respect' or 'honorifics' and in Sinhala, these words are known as "Gaurava:rtha bahu vachana" (honorific plurals). An 'honorific plural noun' differs from other plural nouns in terms of meaning. A plural noun, in general, refers to more than one. The Sinhala singular noun 'madurava:' refers to one mosquito and the plural noun 'maduruvo:' refers to many mosquitoes. The plural noun is also identified by the suffix '-vo:' that comes at the end of it. Its singular counterpart ends in 'vo:'. An honorific plural noun, on the other hand, is one that has a plural suffix but denotes a single person. Among the men and women who deserved respect in the traditional Sinhalese society, the msot important one was the king. He was at the apex of the Sinhalese lay society. Thus he was called 'rajjuruvo:', a plural noun that ends in 'vo:', or sometimes as 'maha rajjuruvo', (the great king). The Buddhist monk heads the non-lay segment of the Sinhalese society. he is thus referred to by the honorific plural noun 'ha:muduruvo:'. These kings and monks are held in such esteem that no singular nouns are used at all to refer to them. So there are no singular counterparts for 'rajjuruvo:''ha:muduruvo:'. Although singular nouns can be formed, as 'rajjuruva:' and 'ha:muduruva:' no Sinhalese would dare use them. Those who deserve respect are referred to by 'plural nouns' because the Sinhalese feel that plurality confers honour on them: They are simply not one but many. |
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