Word: khanning
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...Vilayat Khan's humility is the first thing one notices about him. A shy man nervously smoking a clove cigarette, he does not fit one's image of a world-esteemed recording artist. In his disregard for fame and commercialism, he is a musician in the traditional Indian mold. He does not enjoy performing for others, but for his own fulfillment...
...loss of old traditions among the well-known Indian artists in this country makes Vilayat Khan's visit to Harvard last weekend an especially important event. Khan, one of India's most prominent sitarists, had never visited this country before. Although many authorities consider him the world's greatest living sitarist, he dislikes publicity and giving concert tours, and has not become very well-known outside of the Indian subcontinent. His lecture-demonstration at the Cabot Hall living room on Friday and his concert at Jordan Hall in Boston on Saturday were rare opportunities for Americans to experience Khan...
...such a rigidly structured environment that Vilayat Khan learned his art. The sixth generation of a family of celebrated musicians, he was born in 1924 in the town of Gouripur, located in Bangladesh. He gave his first concert at the age of seven, and made his first recording in his early teens. His reputation now is equivalent to that of Pablo Casals in the West...
...Khan, music is "nada Brahma" (sound is God). Playing in front of a large audience is a traumatic ordeal for him. He says, "The kind of person I am, so nervous. Every day I become more nervous. I have no confidence in my music. When I find out after a concert I did superbly, I am surprised. It is like I am a dummy with the sitar and God played...
During his lecture demonstration at South House Friday, Khan's discomfort was evident. After playing a 40-minute raga, he looked around the room like a bewildered child, at a loss for words, waiting for someone to relieve him quickly and take him off the stage. At a reception held for him after the concert, he exhibited the same social awkwardness, huddling in a corner of the couch, silent except when spoken to. Unlike Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, who thrive on these liquor-dominated social events, Khan seemed embarrassed...