1934 & about 10 years later: Two Turning Points in Sitar Music.

In 1934, Ravi Shankar decided to become a disciple of Enayat Khan. (Father of Vilayat Khan). But on the previous night of the formal ceremony, Ravi Shankar got typhoid & was hospitalized & the ceremony never took place.

About 10 years later, Allauddin Khan (guru of Ravi Shankar) was in Delhi, listening to the radio in his host's house, which was near AIR  station. He was impressed by the live performance of the Sitarist. Someone fetched him from the AIR station & Allauddin Khan recognized him & told him that as he, Vilayat Khan had lost his father & guru, he himself was prepared to teach him. Vilayat said yes, but never turned up.

If either of the above events had turned the other way, Ravi Shankar & Vilayat Khan would be "Gurubhais" (fellow students of the same master) & not rivals!

Another conjecture is, if Ravi Shankar had not got typhoid in 1934, he might not have met & married Annapurna Devi, & she would have continued to perform & become greater than either Ravi Shankar or Vilayat Khan!