that she has declined requests by numerous national and international figures including former prime minister indira gandhi whom she admired to come out and play she has been bestowed several of the countrys most prestigious honours in absentia padma bhushan 1977 deshikottam 1999 and a fellowship of the sangeet natak akademi 2004 the awards could never be a measure of her true position in the pantheon of classical music but perhaps an idea of her genius could be got from something ustad ali akbar khan had once said put ravi shankar pannalal ghosh and me on one side and put annapurna on the other yet her side of the scale would be heavier