Tributes have been pouring in from many persons in the Guyanese community in New York over the passing of Bollywood music icon Padmashree Ravi Shankar Sharma. Reports say the music legend died in Mumbai India over the weekend.
Music Icon Ravi (R) with Cultural Promoter Ramesh Kalicharran
The popular singer was well known by his first name; Ravi and has worked closely with other Guyanese artistes and music promoters, including Lake Persaud, Devendra Pooran and Peter Dass. Lake Persaud and Terry Gajraj are currently touring India and have indeed expressed sadness on the singer’s passing.
In a telephone interview with this newspaper, Persaud said that Ravi’s son is due to meet with him and others in Mumbai.
Ravi came to know the Indo-Caribbean community through Ramesh Kalicharran who hosted receptions for him in New York and in Mumbai as a token of appreciation for his immense contributions to the Indian music industry. “He entertained us with fantastic music and very few can write, produce and direct music the way he does”, said Kalicharran in a tribute to the music icon.
Other singers also spoke glowingly of Ravi and have expressed the view that the music industry has lost a very talented, selfless, and someone that is considered to be a role model for younger artistes.
Ravi was born on March 3, 1926 in Delhi. He is considered to be one of the greatest musicians of all time. He was instrumental in shaping the careers of singers like Salma Agha and Mahendra Kapoor, who visited Guyana, and whose songs are golden memories among the Guyanese community.
The gifted Ravi had no formal training in music, but he made it big in Hindi films, most notably the 1952 classic “Anand Math” and others such as “Chaudhvin Ka Chand” (1960), “Do Badan’ (1966)”, “Humraaz” (1967), “Ankhen”, “Waqt”, “Neel Kamal”, “Gumraah” and “Nikaah” (1982), all of which were popular in Guyana, and won him critical acclaim as well as commercial success.
On his trips to New York, Ravi was always warmly welcomed by many Guyanese and even spent time at the home of Ramesh Kalicharran. There he got to know and had the opportunity to interact with many of the Guyanese performers, always giving good words of encouragement and guidance.
Most notably, he was very impressed with Indo Guyanese community holding on to their culture even after their ancestors left India for such a long period.
Ravi also performed for Kalicharran’s annual tour of Mumbai. He was a regular guest at the Kali Bhatra Yatra farewell reception in Mumbai for almost 30 years.
