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Did Norah Jones disown her part-Indian heritage?

From Santosh On 14 February 2007 View Comments

Norah Jones
Reluctantly Indian?

Do you consider yourself part Indian?” Couric asks.
“I grew up in Texas with a white mother,” Jones says. “I feel very Texan, actually and New York. New Yorker.”

In a short interview with Katie Couric on 60 minutes, Norah Jones was questioned on her personal life which included references to her father, the revered (and in his day, uber playa) Pandit Ravi Shankar, her childhood, upbringing and early family life. Then Couric brought up the issue of her being part-Indian to which Norah replied she felt more of a Texan and/or New Yorker.
Predictably, desi media outlets, the world over, exploded in response to that statement. Here’s a sampling of the headlines:

Ravi Shankar’s daughter Norah doesn’t consider herself Indian
DailyIndia.com
RxPG NEWS
Newindpress
India eNews.com

A more sensational headline indicating perhaps the writer took it personally.

Norah Jones avoids Indian tag
Hindustan Times

At least this headline uses a direct quote.

“I grew up in Texas with a white mother”
Daily News and Analysis(DNA)

My first observation is that most of these websites use the material directly from the original CBS website. The articles were changed here and there and the order was jumbled up but for the most part if you read these articles you feel like you’re reading the CBS story over and over. Secondly, what is the big deal if Norah Jones doesn’t consider herself part-Indian?
She grew up in a suburb of Dallas and her mother is a white American. Even though she was fathered by a famous Indian, she never had the opportunity to experience him in that role.

Norah’s father is the famous musician, Ravi Shankar, the virtuoso Indian sitar player. “I knew who my dad was,” she says. “I saw him sporadically until I was nine and then I didn’t see him again or talk to him until I was 18.”

Even her musical roots are distinctly non-Indian, save for the genetic plumbing.

Norah says her musical roots are country and jazz, tastes acquired growing up in Grapevine, Texas, listening to her mother’s eclectic record collection.

Besides, the darker skin tone and the musical gene, which she could have arguably inherited from her father, she has very little in her history to do with “considering” herself Indian or even part-Indian, for that matter. The Indian media needs to stop hounding her for that statement. If someone does not want to be associated with you for personal reasons, let them be.
This revelation is not shocking at all, given her story and background. Now, Lord Krishna forbid, if one or both of the Malakars denied that they were part-Indian, that would be shocking. Actually, I would be fine with that too and notch it to the battle of nature versus nurture .

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  • Ranvir
    Just because she is half indian genetically, does not mean she has to feel Indian. Think about it, she was born and raised in America by a white mother. Where is she gonna learn about the Indian part of her culture? Where is she gonna learn about the language and the culture? From her white mother? I don't think so. If there's one person to blame for Norah's lack of understanding of Indian culture, it's her dad Ravi. So get off her case.

    I myself am an NRI who was born and raised in England. It's not the same as living in India, you have to have a balance of both cultures. There are some Indians here who are too western and some are too eastern. It's best to have a balance.
  • Jess
    if Norah is.. then she joins the league of a LOT of NRI (non-resident-Indians) who want to discard anything Eastern and follow the Western culture. and yeah, many of them want to be considered Americans- not Indian. yes, she grew up here-- but she IS 50% Indian in terms of her genetic heritage. she's arguably more famous than her father and sister now in the international level, but still will not acknowledge her father publicly. well, that's her right.

    by the way, Norah looks more Indian than white in terms of features-- hope that does not bother her too much.
  • paul hgginbootham
    I feel that Geetali is probably the best musician for the last 20 years in America. Norah has her fathers genes and her mothers conscience. Note that during the adulation of the Grammy ceremony she was embarassed by the adulation. She is simply great no matter her lineage.
  • I somehow think that even if Norah Jones would like to disown her Indian heritage, it would still there staring at her face. However it is true that she cannot be called an Indian as she was never a part of the country…
  • Haha.. I've said enough already! :P
  • Antarananda, that is an interesting revelation. Of course, I'm not privy to information from the sources you have, so I've to go by the interview and stories from the mainstream media. By the way, any clues on who your source is? :-)
  • That doesn't mean much, Santosh. What I said, about Ravi Shankar's behavior, was told to me by a respected Indian classical musician who knows him personally extremely well. That is why Norah doesn't deny in that interview that she contacted her father in anger. Not to disregard the fact that it's certainly good publicity for Ravi Shankar to mention Norah on his website and extract mileage from it.

    I don't mean to be cynical, but am portraying it as it is, based on what I have been told. Of course, it may be a warmer relationship now, but that's not going to change the fact that he was not there for her in her childhood.
  • Antarananda,
    Strictly going by what Norah Jones said in her interview, she herself contacted Ravi Shankar after she turned 18. That would be at least a good 5-6 years before she started to attain fame.
  • The inside word is that up until Norah became famous Ravi Shankar would have nothing to do with her mother and did not support her. Once she won the Grammy and all the adulation from the press, he started crowing about his daughter.

    Norah was raised by her single mom, which is why Norah would not comment on her "famous dad" who sowed his wild oats yet shunned his parental care responsibility. Can't blame her if her dad was such a dog. It is true that Anoushka and Norah are close, though.

    Norah is actually a lot more talented than Anoushka, who has been pushed onto the stage by her mom, and lacks the improvizational ability necessary to be a great Hindustani classical musician. She plays mostly canned material on stage.
  • Bess, it seems like they have patched things up as a family in the recent years. If you follow the link to Ravi Shankar's website the first announcement on there is about his older daughter Norah.
  • bess
    I heard from one of my jazz sources that she's really tight with Anoushka Shankar
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