As a teen growing up in Kolkata of the 60s, TV commentator Ajoy Bose fell in love with
The Beatles
, but his father hated the legendary English pop band, chiefly because of the length of their hair. So, later when The Statesman-the Bible for the Bengali genteel folk-acknowledged the band, it was vindication for fans like Bose.
In 1968, when The Beatles came to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh, "there was a huge controversy," recalled Bose. "The communist and socialist opposition were up in arms thinking they were CIA spies," said Bose, setting the tone for a discussion with
Philip Norman
, British writer and chronicler of pop music, on this landmark visit that was said to infuse the band's songwriting with spiritual undertones.
For five years prior to this visit to India, the band had been on a punishing schedule. "The band was sickened by the hysteria and John (Lennon) was always looking for a way out. For him, it was Yoko. For George (Harrison) it was India," said Norman. A strange twist of fate had made
George Harrison pick up the sitar and eventually meet sitar maestro Pandit
Ravi Shankar.
The band had first met the Maharishi in London. But soon after, their manager,
Brian Epstein
, died suddenly in 1967, leaving the Beatles 'defenseless'. This was when the yearning for what Norman calls "a fast-track to divinity" became stronger and a visit to Rishikesh for transcendental meditation became their "interlude".
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