SSC
'Raga Mala' is the autobiography of:
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Answer: Option B — Pandit Ravi Shankar
Detailed Solution
"Raga Mala" ("Garland of Ragas") is the autobiography of the sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, published in 1997. It was edited by his friend and student George Harrison of the Beatles, who also wrote its introduction.
About the book:
It describes Ravi Shankar's childhood in Varanasi, his years as a dancer in his elder brother Uday Shankar's dance troupe in Paris and Europe, and his rigorous training under the great musician Ustad Allauddin Khan at Maihar.
It covers his work at All India Radio, his film music, and his role in introducing Indian classical music to the West.
An earlier autobiography, "My Music, My Life", was published in 1968.
About Pandit Ravi Shankar (1920-2012):
- He was born in Varanasi on 7 April 1920.
- He belonged to the Maihar gharana of Ustad Allauddin Khan, whose daughter Annapurna Devi he married.
He became internationally famous in the 1960s. George Harrison became his student and introduced the sitar into Beatles songs such as "Norwegian Wood".
He performed at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967) and the Woodstock Festival (1969).
With George Harrison, he organised the "Concert for Bangladesh" (1971) in New York, one of the first major charity rock concerts.
He composed music for Satyajit Ray's "Apu Trilogy" (beginning with "Pather Panchali") and for Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi" (1982).
He won several Grammy Awards and received the Bharat Ratna in 1999.
He was a member of the Rajya Sabha (1986-1992).
His daughters, Anoushka Shankar (sitarist) and Norah Jones (singer), are both Grammy-winning musicians.
Other musicians:
- Ustad Vilayat Khan: sitar maestro of the Imdadkhani (Etawah) gharana.
- Ustad Ali Akbar Khan: sarod maestro, son of Allauddin Khan.
- Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia: flute maestro.
- Pandit Shivkumar Sharma: santoor maestro; autobiography "Journey with a Hundred Strings".
Why not the other options?
- ✗Ustad Vilayat Khan was a sitar maestro of a different gharana.
- ✗Ustad Ali Akbar Khan was a sarod maestro.
- ✗Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is a flute maestro.
Quick tip
Remember: "Raga Mala" (1997, edited by George Harrison) and "My Music, My Life" (1968) = Ravi Shankar; Concert for Bangladesh 1971; Bharat Ratna 1999; guru Allauddin Khan (Maihar gharana).
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.