A recent clarification by Anoushka Shankar regarding Rishab Rikhiram Sharma’s association with her late father Ravi Shankar has led to a detailed response from Rishab’s team, placing the timeline of events on record.
In an earlier interview with Humans of Bombay, Anoushka addressed what she described as a “misunderstanding” around Rishab being referred to as Pandit Ravi Shankar’s last or youngest disciple. She said, “Rishab is really talented and he is clearly speaking to people in a really wonderful way. I think there is some misunderstanding about his guruship. He learnt very intensively with someone very dear to me, one of my father’s senior disciples Parimal Sadaphal, and he had a couple of lessons with my father, very informally, with Parimal uncle also in the room.”
She further added, “We knew him from childhood because he was the son of our instrument maker Sanjay Rikiram Sharma. So somehow that has gone blown up into some story of him being his last disciple or the youngest disciple, which isn’t true. But he is super talented and deserves all success with or without that story.”
Following these remarks, Rishab Rikhiram Sharma’s team released a comprehensive statement outlining their version of events. According to the statement, a private meeting took place on 3rd January 2012 at the Ravi Shankar Centre (Saraswati Pooja Hall) at the express request of Pandit Ravi Shankar. This followed a personal call from Panditji to Sanjay Sharma on 2nd January, requesting Rishab’s presence for the Ganda Bandhan ceremony the next day.
“Sukanya Shankar noted that during their stay in the USA she had shown Panditji a YouTube recording of Rishab performing Raag Tilak Kamod at a Sanjay Rikhi Ram Vadya Parampara event in New Delhi on 10th February 2011. After reviewing the recording again on the morning of 3rd January, Pandit Ravi Shankar decided to accept Rishab as a Shishya, intending to personally nurture his potential”, it read.
“He asked Rishab to perform the same raag, listened attentively, demonstrated and corrected the composition, and conducted a formal lesson lasting several hours. Panditji clarified that while he might not always be physically present, Pandit Parimal Sadaphal would supervise structured training, with periodic remote progress reviews. The session culminated in the formal Ganda Bandhan ceremony, during which Panditji tied the traditional red thread around Rishab’s wrist and spoke of Kartavya Vidya, emphasizing that while the thread may physically break, the spiritual Guru-Shishya bond endures for life.”
The team also claimed that on 10th February 2012, at a Sanjay Rikhi Ram Vadya Parampara event at Kamani Auditorium, Pandit Ravi Shankar “publicly introduced 13-year-old Rishab Rikhiram Sharma on stage as his youngest disciple.” “This marked Panditji’s final public appearance in India before relocating to his overseas residence in the United States,” it added. They stated that Rishab later performed at a memorial gathering for the maestro at Nehru Park in March 2013, and that his training continued under Pandit Parimal Sadaphal in accordance with Ravi Shankar’s guidance.
The differing accounts have sparked discussion within the classical music community, with both sides acknowledging Rishab’s talent while presenting varying interpretations of the nature and extent of his discipleship under the legendary sitarist.
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