Where to start? Hmmmm, well, the question that comes up from time to time is "What instruments do all the professional players use?" I knew that the answer was older Hiren Roy's for the most part and Rikhi Ram instruments. When I heard that Sanjay had started his own shop, I was of course very curious and was introduced to him by a friend of both of ours. What has resulted is a great friendship with a kindred spirit (as well as incredible phone bills!).

     I quickly figured out that he was a perfectionist by nature and wanted an environment where he could make instruments in the traditional way; continuing the tradition started by his Grandfather and subsequently his Father, Pandit Bishan Das. He named his shop "Rikhi Ram's Music" as a dedication to his grandfather, the late Pandit Rikhi Ram whose legacy was always present as Sanjay grew up around the instruments and shop he created. Almost immediately, Sanjay was well on his way with orders stacking up from well known musicians due to his well earned reputation for superb sounding instruments of uncommon quality.

     After untold hours of conversation, I ordered 2 sitars from him. Because of my height he suggested sitars built to the specifications of the legendary Nodu Mullick sitars. He was intimately familiar with them, having grown up around, and maintaining and repairing these instruments for his family's Guru Pandit Ravi Shankar.     What could I say? The more we talked, the more I realized that Sanjay was perhaps even more passionate than I was! He is very articulate and has a wealth of unique knowledge....Over the next 6 months we continued our conversations and in the process I learned a great deal. When my sitars arrived, I was overjoyed to find some of the most incredible instruments I have ever seen! Then, to confirm my delight, I happened to see Gaurav Mazumdar (a well known disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar) playing a concert locally AND using one of Sanjay's sitars that was only 6 months old which is really unheard of. You had to hear it to believe it!

     Like most people, I had become somewhat jaded by the reputation that Indian musical instruments have had over the last 15 years or so because of mediocre quality. Superior instruments were few and far between and nearly impossible to obtain. I was quite content with my 40 year old Hiren Roy sitar and I would have never started the website had it not been for my friends at Srishti and Parampara, who convinced me that one could actually still obtain excellent instruments from India. To find a maker like Sanjay Sharma creating incredible  instruments as well, I am convinced that things have taken a turn for the better; even if only on a small scale. It is my great pleasure to now be carrying instruments by Rikhi Ram's Music. Both Sanjay Sharma and I have worked hard together to make all of this possible here on the other side of the world and I hope you will enjoy the results of his efforts!

~Lars Jacobsen, October, 2003~