The workshop on Hindustani classical music in progress on Tuesday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Rajarshi Chakraborty looks a little listless sitting through a lesson in taal, but the moment there?s a tap on the tabla, he is all animated. Two mornings of his precious summer vacation have been spent at a south Calcutta house surrounded by tanpura, pakhawaj and tabla, but the seven-year-old shyly admits he?s having a good time.

The Class II Don Bosco student is the youngest in a bunch of seven to 16-year-olds attending a six-day summer workshop on Hindustani classical music, in the times of hip-hop and Bollywood beats.

The reasons for sitting-in range from wanting to be a singer to simply developing an ear for classical notes.

As a break from the usual summer camps on pottery or painting, Boogie Woogie or Beyblade, some parents are keen to let their children tune in to a different sound.

?I noticed a sense of rhythm in my son and so wanted him just to enjoy the music at the workshop,? says Rajarshi?s mother Bijoya Chakraborty.

The group of 10 that rehearsed on the rainy Tuesday morning at Gurukul did seem to enjoy huddling around instructor and workshop coordinator Arpita Chatterjee of the Agra gharana, fingering a tanpura chord or slapping the tabla. ?It?s fun learning classical music. I want to learn so that I can appreciate it,? says Rwiti Roy, a Class VII student of Dolna Day, who frowns on the remix rage.

If Katyauni Mukherjee of South Point aims to cut an album some day, Shubharthi Talukdar of Calcutta Boys? wants to perform in concerts.

?It?s not true that children are not interested in classical music any more. After admitting 850 children in Sruti Nandan, there are 500 more in queue,? says Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, who even holds appreciation classes for guardians at his music school.

The role of the guardian is underlined by Ustad Rashid Khan. ?If the music is good, be it any kind of music, then children will automatically be drawn to it. But only if parents are keen do children get an opportunity to learn classical music.?