Exchanging emails with one of the doyens of Indian classical music, sitar virtuoso Shambhu Das, is a lesson in humility. "Thank you for your interest in my music and life," the octogenarian says, when we write to him with an interview request. "Please allow me two hours to respond as I am busy with an important meeting," he adds, displaying none of the baggage demanding of an institution like him. Das later shares that he is only a servant to his art. "My advice to them [my students] is to see what I do, learn from there and practise hard."

The Toronto-based musician, one of the most famous disciples of Ravi Shankar and credited with teaching Beatles’ star George Harrison the sitar, has been living the last few years softly. It was over 14 years ago when Das made front-page news after he entered the Guinness World Record for the longest sitar marathon, which lasted 24 hours. Since then, he has been invested in teaching, meditation and yoga. "I get up in the morning at 5 am, meditate and pray, do yoga and then start my sitar practice." He has breakfast only after the first three tasks are completed. Afternoons are devoted to his students. His new album, Dhyanam & Shantivani (Ohm Music, Canada), originally recorded in the 1990s but never released, is an extension of the life he now lives. "Yoga means connecting oneself with a superior power, and getting there through meditation with classical music."