MUMBAI: If one had to paint a stroke for every note of his santoor, the end would result in a captivating painting. The stalwart of santoor, Pandit Shiv Kumar, has for years charmed music lovers from all over the world with his melodious tunes.

When asked about the current scenario of classical music he told Radioandmusic.com,"It is the media who feels that classical music is not being heard which is completely wrong. If you see the number of people who attend our concerts you will realise that the younger generation too has the ear for our genre and it is thriving."

To support his view, he made known the number of people that attended a classical concert in Bangladesh. The turn out for the first day was approximately 20,000 people. The second day witnessed a spike with 25,000 and on the third day numbers swelled to 30,000. But the man behind the music spoke about more than just classical concerts.

While speaking about reality shows bringing overnight fame to artistes he says, "Not everyone becomes a Lata Mangeshkar or a Zakhir Hussain. Real talent needs patience and one cannot rely on overnight fame. One needs to have that amount of dedication and that strength to take criticism and praises. Only then can one reach that level." Citing an example of a Japanese student who the maestro happens to mentor he says, "The boy lives alone in Mumbai as a paying guest, cooks Indian meals and also imbibes Indian culture. This level of dedication is needed".

Despite reaching the peak of success, he is still quite grounded. "People come and tell me that I am God or I played really well, but yet I rework the mistakes I make and I pray to God that feeling remains," the maestro signs off.

The legendary Maestros of Santoor and Tabla- Pandit Shivkumar Sharma accompanied by Ustad Zakir Hussain. The two legends of Indian music who have collaborated together since the early 1970s and their journey follows them to yet another mesmerising evening set for 14th of Jan'14 for a concert of Anand Trust, a charitable organization.