Acclaimed sitarist Purbayan Chatterjee has a busy schedule. He recently released two singles from Feathered Creatures, his album that releases in June. Soon after the release, Chatterjee and guitarist Mark Lettieri of Grammy-winning jazz band Snarky Puppy will perform in Kolkata. In between planning, rehearsing and gearing up for the album, the musician talks to mid-day about taking a new sonic direction with Feathered Creatures and the wall of nepotism in arts that he aims to break with his foundation.

Excerpts from the interview.