T here are two ways of recognising the crucial turning points in one’s life — when you immediately feel a change in your world and when, in retrospect, you realise that an event has altered the course of your life. On the professional front, a concert with tabla maestro Zakir Hussain in 2007 at Kala Mandir in Calcutta proved to be a major turning point in my career as a sitarist. Though I had done lots of shows before this, the kind of exposure and audience response this concert earned me was overwhelming. The attention it drew from the city’s intelligentsia as well as the media put me in the spotlight.

The second turning point came when I collaborated with renowned singer and music composer Shankar Mahadevan for Ananda Utsav 2011, a cultural festival for Bengalis living overseas, in New Jersey. It not only helped me connect with music lovers in the West but also got me a lot of contacts and resulted in many more shows once the festival was over.

I deeply treasure my association with Shankar Mahadevan. He has been very supportive and I admire his humility. I still remember meeting him backstage for the first time at a show in Singapore. I gave him a CD of my album Talaash, and though I was a little sceptical as to whether he would get in touch with me again, he actually did. Subsequently, we performed together at the Royal Festival Hall at the Alchemy Festival in London before a 3,800 strong audience.

Right now I’m working on two albums — one features light, classical lounge music and the other includes Indian versions of Western classical compositions. I’ve also finished working on an album, tentatively named IP Address, and plan to release it during the Pujas. After this, I’ll be off on a musical tour to the US by the end of October. I love making music and I am glad that I chose it as a career.

(As told to Lubna Salim)