Sitarist Anoushka Shankar has clarified that Rishab Rikhiram Sharma was never formally a disciple of her father, late Pandit Ravi Shankar, contrary to claims that have been circulating widely in recent years.

Sharma has often been described as the last and youngest disciple of the Grammy-winning sitarist, a claim Sharma has also referenced in past interviews while speaking about his musical journey.

However, Anoushka said this account is based on a misunderstanding. In a recent conversation with Humans Of Bombay, she spoke about Sharma’s association with her father.

“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 added that the families shared a long association.

“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.”

Sharma, a sitarist and music producer, studied Music Production and Economics in New York City and later founded the initiative Sitar For Mental Health, which uses music as a therapeutic tool for emotional well-being. He is also the first sitarist to perform solo at the White House.

In earlier interviews, Sharma had shared his own account of how Pandit Ravi Shankar became his mentor.

“My father Sanjay Rikiram took over my Guruji’s sitar work after my grandfather’s demise. From my first live concert, a video reached Guruji. He saw that video and called my dad and said, ‘Is this your son you are telling me about?’ My father said yes. Guruji said, ‘Whenever I am in Delhi, please bring him over.’ Once we were there, Guruji was like, ‘OK, take out your sitar and play for me a little bit.’ I played and then he picked up his guitar and played the same composition,” he had said in a conversation with Bani Anand.

In another interview with WION, Sharma had credited Pandit Ravi Shankar as a major influence on his music.

Anoushka Shankar is currently on her Chapters Tour 2026 in India, marking 30 years of her career. At her Kolkata concert on February 8, singer Arijit Singh joined her and percussionist Bickram Ghosh for an extended 20-minute set, marking Singh’s first performance after announcing his retirement from playback singing.