Anoushka Shankar

“As a disciple of my father's, I was certain I wanted to include one of his own raga creations on 'Home', as they are so beautiful; whilst many of his creations are part of the general classical repertoire for all musicians, many more are only played by those of us who learned from him, and therefore need to be played.”

“I'm not pretending I can change the world, or to be an expert on social and political affairs. But I certainly have a right to say when something is wrong.”

“There's a very primal, emotional response I feel when I hear flamenco.”

“As a child I'd sit at dinner parties with artists, authors and musicians, some of the best people in their fields. I couldn't avoid the path I took having grown up in such an artistic environment.”

“Listen with an open ear is the first, most important thing to do. From there, if people feel like learning more, that's when you can kind of go deeper.”

“But there was a lot of pressure to achieve and to get things right, whether in school, on stage or with my peers and family.”

“In a studio context, the music becomes greater than the sum of its parts. When you have collaboration, you have other people's strengths that I don't share, so my song can get stronger.”

“Everybody gets opportunities; what you do with them is up to you.”

“I lived with my teacher and he was my father and he practiced every day so I practiced every day and we practiced every day together.”

“However, I need to make music that represents my inner truth and inner voice. I've found myself more able to do that within an international space that has an Indianness at its root but branches out to encompass sounds and cultures across borders.”

“I have had other offers before but for my first film, I did not want to do anything too big.”

“As far as using electronics in my music, I have to do that as honestly as possible. Also, I have a broad range of listeners from a classical music base, as well as people, like me, who listen to a lot of different music. So I'm mindful of letting my sitar playing remain at the center of what I do.”

“The Grammys are very wide-ranging but it's still within the Western world of music. So it would be lovely if that opened up more.”

“I always had musicians in my band having children, and their wives were the ones at home taking care of the kids. So I never thought much of it. And then suddenly I'm the parent, but I'm the woman, and it's like, 'Ah, what happens now?'”

“My mother is an amazing vocalist and a lot of my grounding in music has come from her. She was a student of Lakshmi Shankar, my father's sister- in- law.”

“There is no everlasting power in the music of today. Everyone is running after record sales.”

“'Acceptance' is a tricky word. Acceptance about what life is bringing us in a spiritual sense is one thing; but acceptance when there's injustice in the world is completely another.”

“George Harrison became my uncle - not by blood but through love. It's sort of an Indian cultural thing.”

“I think we are all individuals at the end of the day. There's nothing about culture that can prescribe who you're meant to be.”

“I try and approach other music with sensitivity. And, if it's music I don't know, I try and work with other people who are well-versed it in, so that it's done sensitively.”