Rishab Sharma is getting Gen Z excited about the sitar

Rishab Rikhiram Sharma was in New York, half a planet away, when his beloved Nanu was admitted to hospital in Delhi. It was late 2020, right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, with no way for him to get home. His only connection to his maternal grandfather—isolated in the hospital ward, with only one visitor allowed—was through FaceTime, and the sitar prodigy would play his favourite songs.

“After we lost him, I was broken. It was the lowest point of my life,” remembers 26-year-old Sharma, speaking over Zoom from his living room in Delhi. “I was depressed and dealing with a lot of anxiety. I didn’t leave my room, I wasn’t eating and I completely lost the will to play music.”

Instagram.com/@rishabsmusic

Sharma eventually sought therapy to overcome his depression. In due time, he picked up the sitar again, incorporating music as part of his therapeutic process. He’d go live on Instagram or Clubhouse and play his heart out, imagining that his grandfather was still somewhere out there, listening in. Between songs, he’d talk about his loss and mental health. “It became this virtual room where everyone came together for each other, to share our grief,” says Sharma. “I started calling these sessions Sitar For Mental Health (SFMH) because I was using my voice—the sitar— to talk about mental health.”