Want to complete Raviji's work: Sukanya Shankar

Pandit Ravi Shankar's magnificent life and music career is being celebrated on his 95th birth anniversary and wife Sukanya has been busy giving shape to a planned exhibition in Grammy museum, slated to open on April 29.
"Ravi Shankar: A Life In Music" will give music lovers a rare glimpse into the Grammy-winning sitar virtuoso's early life and his impact on world music.
"We have donated some 10 sitars, including one from the 1930s. There are many things, concert photos, hand-written letters and notes. I have been collecting stuff madly. It is one-of-a-kind exhibition and is open for a year. An entire floor is dedicated for it," Sukanya told PTI over phone from her San Diego home.

Besides the exhibition, a tribute was organised by his disciples and other musicians in Delhi on his birthday (April 7).
In his long career Ravi Shankar collaborated with other great artistes like Yehudi Menuhin, Philip Glass, John Coltrane, and The Beatles' George Harrison, who called the sitar maestro 'The Godfather of World Music'. Ravi Shankar was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1999.
Sukanya said Ravi Shankar's contribution to Indian music will continue to inspire others.

"There was no one like him. He was a huge figure and a great musician like him is yet to come. Raviji had an amazing life. He kept performing just weeks before his death. He was the face of Indian music and brought it on the global map in the 1960s."

She admits that there has been a vacuum since Ravi Shankar's death in 2012 but putting his work together has kept her busy.
"Yes, there is a vacuum after his death but I feel he is still with me and guiding me on every step of this journey. He had a huge presence in my life. There is so much of his work that has to be done. He wrote so many songs and had such a great performing career. I am trying to collect everything and put it together.