Barton Upsets Hindus With Sitar Comments

09 June 2009

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Actress Mischa Barton has upset Hindu leaders by complaining about her efforts to find a sitar teacher in India in a blog posting.

The former The O.C. star was recently in India shooting Bhopal A Prayer for Rain.

In between filming, Barton had hoped to visit Hindu temples and learn to play the sitar, but when her efforts to find a music teacher failed, she complained to fans and friends on her MySpace.com.

It mocks the rich musical heritage of India

She wrote, "I must say my goal coming here was to learn to play the sitar and it's coming along real slow as apparently it's not that easy to procure a great sitar teacher here. I guess it's not (the) late 60s with Ravi Shankar and George Harrison roaming around".

Her comments have enraged leading scholars, who insist Barton is being immature if she thinks sitar teachers sit on street corners and advertise tutorials on streetlamps.

U.S. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, says, "India has an abundance of great sitar players. If Mischa could not procure a great sitar teacher in India, the chances of finding the teacher outside India would be even slimmer.

"Her comment was a very immature statement. It mocks the rich musical heritage of India".

But the Hindus have also chosen to praise Barton for her interest in their culture. Zed tells FemaleFirst, "I urge her to undertake a deeper study of Hinduism. If Mischa needs any assistance in her studies, I would be happy to assist".

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