'Papa, Can I Try This? This Is Already Broken': How Rishab Rikhiram Sharma's Sitar Journey Started
Music can be helpful in healing, says sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, who strongly believes that raga therapy can play a crucial role for those going through mental health struggles.
New Delhi: Music can be helpful in healing, says sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, who strongly believes that raga therapy can play a crucial role for those going through mental health struggles.
Sharma, who comes from a family of luthiers and was mentored by the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar, started incorporating the concept of healing through music after his own struggle with anxiety and depression following his grandfather's death.
"It was through therapy and music that I was able to cope with it. I used to do these online sessions on Clubhouse and Instagram where we would share music. I would perform and invite others to form a community. It started small and then it just kept building. Now there are 3 million (followers on Instagram) and it's increasing everyday," he told PTI in an interview.
"I always say that music can be really helpful to cope and heal yourself. Using music as therapy is actually an ancient concept. I'm only bringing it to the next generation and saying, 'Hey, check out this cool thing that existed before. This might help you, try it out'. I want to give people a warm hug through my music." The Delhi-born musician, who is based out of New York, is currently on a 10-city 'Sitar For Mental Health' India tour. He recently performed at the Indira Gandhi Arena in the national capital here.
"It was a surreal experience (concert) because I'm from Delhi. I moved to New York 10 years ago, but I'm still very Delhi at heart. It's always special to come back and perform in your hometown... There was one point where I was playing 'Saare Jahan Se Achha' because I wanted to attribute something to my Guruji (Ravi Shankar). It's his composition." Sharma, who always performs the sitar with henna-stained hands, said he applies it on his hands two days before every show.
"My hands are always in focus. So I was like what cool stuff can I do with my hands? I was looking at tattoos, but they are permanent. I also tried this ink called Jaguar But I was ultimately like 'let's embrace mehndi'. I know it's a girly thing but what better way to break the stereotype by making these cool designs?" The musician has a strong following among youth, especially for his song "Shankar Sankat Harna" which has over 26 million views on Instagram.
He has always been spiritual but does not consider himself to be religious, he added.
"But this one bhajan is so dear to my heart because my mom and my nani (maternal grandmother) used to sing it all the time. This is a famous bhajan in Chamba (in Uttarakhand). We would go there during the summer when we were growing up. We just sang it because I felt like singing it in that one show. We uploaded a recording of the show and it just blew up," Sharma said.
The 26-year-old sitarist credits his father, master luthier Sanjay Sharma, for instilling deep love for the stringed instrument. Ravi Shankar was one of his famous clients.
Though Sharma grew up around the instrument, he was never allowed to touch the sitar as his parents feared that he would break the instrument. He was, however, allowed to take vocal lessons.
"I drifted towards the guitar because it was cool. I was playing (American rock band) Green Day songs and learning bar chords. During this time, my dad shipped an instrument out of India to a client, it was a studio sitar that he made for my guruji, Pandit Ravi Shankarji, and then it became popular and everyone wanted one.
"He sent one to Switzerland and during the transit, it broke and was sent back. My dad never leaves an instrument broken because goddess Saraswati lies in each and every instrument. So he fixed it to sell at a discounted rate. I just built up the courage and asked him, 'Papa, can I try this? This is already broken'." Sharma said he picked up the instrument and started playing a sargam and a few songs that he had already practised on the guitar.
"After that, my dad was pretty impressed and said, 'Your lesson starts tomorrow'. That's how the journey began."
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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