EVERY MINUTE spent speaking with Anoushka Shankar is a learning experience. Most of the time it’s you who discovers something new about life from her and sometimes it’s the other way around and she’ll like something you’ve pointed out. Subject matter oscillates from research papers about unfair representation to lamenting the shitty almond milk that ruins one’s chai. I realize that it kind of hits the same way seeing her onstage does: pretty damn unforgettable.
It’s a crisp February morning when we meet the six time Grammy-nominated sitar player in Mumbai at her hotel. She is on the India leg of a world tour to promote her latest EP Love Letters and is set to play in Mumbai and New Delhi the same week.
Shankar strides into the conference room we’re meeting in with a bright smile and an even brighter fuschia jacket, her grip firm as she shakes our hands and gets seated. She orders a cup of tea but wrinkles her nose after taking a sip. “I swear I’m having the worst tea since I got here like... wow,” she explains with a grimace, blaming the aforementioned shitty almond milk. She pretends to gag for added effect, sending our team (and hers) into peals of laughter; she’s hilarious in the most unexpected ways, with a razor sharp sense of wit that’s immediately charming.
This story is from the April 2020 edition of RollingStone India.
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This story is from the April 2020 edition of RollingStone India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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