Strings of Memory

Rishab Rikhiram Sharma opens up to Kannagi Desai about legacy, loss, & the instrument that helped him reconnect to life

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The first thing you notice about a musician is their hands—their ability to summon centuries of sound from an instrument's strings. His, in particular, already tell a story upon arrival—swirled in henna, anointed with meaning. “It started off as just an aesthetic ritual,” Rishab Rikhiram Sharma tells me. "But now, it’s a vessel for energy. The drawings are often related to Shiva. I feel like I'm borrowing something from above—channelling it through my hands.”

If the name sounds familiar, it should. Sharma is a fourth-generation sitarist from the iconic Rikhi Ram family of legacy instrument makers, the great-grandson of Pandit Rikhi Ram Sharma, and the youngest and final disciple of the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar. He’s performed solo at the White House, composed soundscapes that blend hip-hop with ancient ragas, and now tours the world not just as a musician but as an advocate for mental health.