In the summertime of 2024, my mom despatched me a reel on Instagram by which a younger man in his mid-twenties was taking part in an exquisite rendition of “Tum Hello Dekho Na” from the film “Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna” on his sitar. The tune was so melodious that I noticed that 90-second reel for round 20-25 minutes. This made me curious, and I searched extra about this gifted musician. Whereas trying to find this tune on the web, I realized that the artist’s title was Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, a sitar participant and the final disciple of the legendary Pt. Ravi Shankar.
That is how I received to learn about Rishab’s music and his journey into this realm. His music made a quiet affect on me, and as quickly as he introduced his India tour, I knew I needed to see him reside. Rishab carried out to a sold-out crowd in Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Enviornment, and for nearly 2 hours, he mesmerized everybody along with his allure, expertise, and soulful music.
From the primary word of Tilak Shyam, it was evident that this was not going to be an atypical sitar recital. With light strokes and a gentle rhythm, Rishab constructed a meditative environment. He let the raga unravel step by step, with grace and depth. The meends had been elegant, the jod part stretched with care, and his taans flowed like poetry. It was the proper technique to open the night, rooted in custom, calm but commanding. Nonetheless, earlier than he started his efficiency, he began the night time with a bit of train the place he instructed a crowd of 14,000 to inhale and exhale by placing one hand on their coronary heart, and the opposite on the stomach. This was to calm down everybody in order that they might benefit from the music wholeheartedly. Nevertheless it appeared he did that to calm himself as effectively earlier than the performances started, and the environment began getting a bit extra energetic.
(Picture Courtesy: @rishabsmusic/Instagram)
After the melodious introduction to Tilak Shyam, Rishab Rikhiram Sharma seemed extra relaxed and began acting on his standard tracks. First got here Shiv Kailashon Ke Vaasi, a robust composition impressed by Lord Shiva’s cosmic abode. The artist transitioned from the calm of Tilak Shyam to the depth of devotion. The slow-burning tune was spiritually wealthy, and because the different devices joined in, the efficiency lifted into one other realm. It wasn’t simply technical brilliance, it was the best way he communicated devotion by each pluck and pause. Individuals didn’t simply hear the music, they felt it. It was one of many performances that introduced a tear to many eyes, not due to how intense it was, however due to how pure it was.
In the meantime, Roslyn, a fragile authentic composition, was quiet and inward-looking. That piece had restraint, melancholy, and vulnerability. The silence between the notes spoke as loudly because the notes themselves.
After which got here the surprising: a sitar rendition of Kal Ho Na Ho. He started the efficiency by telling the viewers to snap their fingers in a rhythm for some time, and nobody knew what was going to return. Nonetheless, he took everybody by storm as quickly as he hit the primary word. There’s at all times a danger once you take one thing iconic and emotional as this Sonu Nigam traditional, and interpret it on a classical instrument. However Rishab didn’t simply pull it off, he elevated it. The melody flowed fantastically on the sitar, and by the point he reached the refrain, individuals had been misplaced in individuals had been misplaced in a wave of reminiscence and that means. It was deeply nostalgic and a transparent nod to how versatile Indian classical devices could be.
He additionally gave a tribute to his trainer, Pt. Ravi Shankar, by taking part in probably the most extraordinary songs, Saare Jahaan Se Accha, on the sitar. In that second, Rishab grew to become a bridge between the outdated and the brand new, the purist and the favored.
(Picture Courtesy: @rishabsmusic/Instagram)
The temper out of the blue shifted when he performed one other of his standard tracks, Chanakya, which brought in a completely different energy. It was sharp, stuffed with technique, identical to the person it’s named after. That is the place Rishab didn’t maintain again, and his storytelling by the sitar shone. Every taan felt like a well-thought-out argument in a debate. The viewers was hooked, and applause erupted halfway—not one thing you often hear throughout Indian classical concert events. However that’s the Sharma impact. He makes classical music really feel rapid and pressing. Simply after we thought the emotional waves had crested, Rishab introduced out the ultimate act of the night time—Taandav. And it wasn’t only a finale, it was a storm. It was pure adrenaline, and the corridor vibrated with the power.
Because the present ended, all of us felt we had seen one thing particular. However, as a journalist, I wanted to understand how others felt. So, I talked to individuals and so they shared how they felt. For Neeti, a resident of Noida, this present was “past something she anticipated.” Furthermore, she felt that the tunes he performed had been “extremely calming and therapeutic, and felt like a mild reset” for her “thoughts and soul.” In the meantime, for Samyak, it was an “emotional rollercoaster” efficiency that introduced tears to his eyes. In actuality, it was not only a efficiency, however a remedy session.
What makes Rishab Rikhiram Sharma so impactful isn’t just his command over the sitar—it’s his skill to make classical music really feel alive, related, and emotionally direct. For anybody who doubts whether or not classical music can nonetheless transfer as we speak’s audiences, this live performance was a transparent, hard-hitting reply. Rishab isn’t the way forward for Indian classical music. He’s its current, burning brilliant with ardour, energy, and precision.
Rishab Rikhiram Sharma is at the moment touring India.
