I do love the sitar

It's an elegant instrument, although perhaps an acquired taste (I also like bagpipes, but that may be my Scottish genes). So I was somewhat saddened to hear this:

Ravi Shankar, Sitar Master and Beatles Influence, Dies at 92

Ravi Shankar, the sitar master who influenced The Beatles and introduced classical Indian music to Western audiences, died Tuesday. He was 92.

A statement on Shankar’s website said he died in San Diego, near his Southern California home with his wife and a daughter by his side. The musician’s foundation issued a statement saying that he had suffered upper respiratory and heart problems and had undergone heart-valve replacement surgery last week.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also confirmed Shankar’s death and called him a “national treasure.”