String Theory

Internet's favourite sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma speaks on learning under the late Pandit Ravi Shankar, making Indian classical music more accessible to modern audiences, and his plans for Sitar for Mental Health.

- By SANJANA RAY

THE FIRST TIME RISHAB RIKHIRAM SHARMA held a sitar, it felt like something out of Harry Potter—like the moment the wand chooses the wizard.

It just fit. Born into a family of legacy musical instrument makers, Sharma was only 10 when he came under the tutelage of the legendary Pandit Ravi Shankar, becoming the maestro's youngest and final disciple. While most kids his age were dodging homework or tossing chalk across classrooms, he spent his days training at his Guruji’s centre in Delhi's Chanakyapuri, quietly preparing for a future that would one day take Indian classical music to global arenas.

As he grew older, so did his appetite for music, especially its technical intricacies. At 17, Sharma moved to New York, the world’s cultural melting pot, to study Music Production and Economics at Queens College, City University of New York. There, he immersed himself in a spectrum of global sounds; influences that now echo in his viral tracks like ‘Roslyn’ and ‘The Burning Ghat’. He was in New York—learning, performing, evolving—when the Covid-19 pandemic struck. As the world shut down and descended into Zoom meetings and Dalgona coffee, Sharma was hit with the devastating news of his maternal grandfather being hospitalised. When he passed away in September 2020, there was no way for the young musician to return home and say goodbye.

So he turned to the sitar to process his grief. Night after night, he played online for strangers on Clubhouse and Instagram, a digital ritual that took shape as Sitar for Mental Health—a virtual sanctuary where ragas help soothe emotional pain. What began as personal therapy grew into a global community of grievers, healers and music lovers. Today, it counts over 3,00,000 members and has led to sold-out shows across the US, Canada, South America and India.