Mischa Barton enrages Hindus over sitar cribbing

Washington, June 9 : Actress Mischa Barton has enraged Hindus around the world, after she cribbed on her blog about not getting a sitar teacher in India.

The ex-O. C. star was recently in India for lensing `Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain', and was hoping to visit Hindu temples and learn to play the sitar in between filming.

However, when her efforts to find a music teacher failed, she complained to fans and friends on her MySpace. com page.

"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," Contactmusic quoted her as saying in the post.

The 23-year-old actress' comments have enraged leading scholars, who insist that Barton is being immature if she thinks sitar teachers sit on street corners and advertise tutorials on streetlamps.

U. S. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, said: "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."

However, Hindus have also chosen to praise Barton for her interest in their culture.

Zed said: "I urge her to undertake a deeper study of Hinduism. If Mischa needs any assistance in her studies, I would be happy to assist." (ANI)