Ravi and George
Witness History28 Nov 2025

Ravi and George

Following the Beatles final concert tour, George Harrison travelled to India in 1967 to learn sitar under the renowned musician Ravi Shankar.

Fleeing Beatlemania he travelled in disguise to Mumbai and then to Srinagar in Kashmir.

Listening to BBC archive and using excerpts from a Martin Scorsese documentary, we hear one of the world's most famous guitarists challenge himself to learn a new instrument.

The moment influenced George’s spirituality, his burgeoning solo musical career, as well as the Beatles. It also propelled Ravi Shankar further into the limelight.

The musicians remained lifelong friends. Ravi says they last saw each other on 28 November 2001, the day before George died.

Produced and presented by Surya Elango.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

This programme has been updated since the original broadcast, with concert dates and song writing credits corrected.

(Photo: George Harrison and Ravi Shankar in 1975. Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Avsnitt(2000)

Festac ’77: Nigeria’s largest festival of African arts and culture

Festac ’77: Nigeria’s largest festival of African arts and culture

In 1977, Nigeria hosted the largest festival of African arts and culture there had ever been. About half a million visitors attended, as well as 16,000 delegates including Stevie Wonder and Miriam Mak...

8 Sep 202510min

‘How I sold my clothes and created a $5 billion Vinted empire’

‘How I sold my clothes and created a $5 billion Vinted empire’

In 2008, Lithuanian student Milda Mitkutė realised she had too many clothes when she was moving out.She told her friend Justas Janauskas and together they came up with a website to sell them. It later...

5 Sep 202510min

World's first womb transplant baby

World's first womb transplant baby

In September 2014, the world's first baby was born to a mother with a transplanted womb, making headlines around the globe.Malin Stenberg had the pioneering surgery over a year earlier when she receiv...

4 Sep 202510min

The Chindits

The Chindits

During World War Two, an unconventional special force was formed. Known as the Chindits, they fought behind enemy lines in Burma, now Myanmar during 1943 and 1944 in the war against Japan.Their leader...

3 Sep 202510min

The founding of USAID

The founding of USAID

On 3 November 1961, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was founded, bringing all existing aid work under one single agency. A key proponent of it was Barbara Ward, a pio...

2 Sep 202510min

Discovering the Titanic

Discovering the Titanic

In September 1985, the wreck of the Titanic was discovered around 400 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, during a joint American-French expedition.It had remained undisturbed, 13,00...

1 Sep 202510min

John Lennon's final headline concerts

John Lennon's final headline concerts

In 1972, after leaving The Beatles, John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed in the United States at the One to One benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden, New York. They were helping to raise money for ...

29 Aug 20259min

The making of the Third Man: A film noir classic

The making of the Third Man: A film noir classic

In 1948, filming began on a post-war thriller that would become one of the greatest British movies of all time.Directed by Sir Carol Reed, the film captured the atmosphere of a divided, ruined Vienna....

28 Aug 20259min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
en-mork-historia
gynning-berg
p3-dokumentar
svenska-fall
mardromsgasten
skaringer-nessvold
aftonbladet-krim
killradet
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
rattsfallen
spar
flashback-forever
hor-har
aterforeningen-en-podcast-med-thorsten-och-richard-flinck-av-sigge-eklund
vad-blir-det-for-mord
historiska-brott
rysarpodden
kod-katastrof
rss-mer-an-bara-morsa