Prakash Paunikar first heard the melodious strains of the sitar at a concert by Lt. Pandit Ranjan Ganguly, a disciple of the renowned sarod maestro Lt. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
Mr. Prakash Paunikar is B. Tech engineer from IIT, Bombay. The passion for sitar however still drove him to get some basic sitar lessons from Lt. Pandit Ranjan Ganguli during last year at IIT.
Prakash pursued his love for the sitar with full passion and dedication early in 1996, he met Lt. Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan a veteran sitar master from the Agra gharana who was also the senior most disciple of the great Lt. Bharat Ratna Pt. Ravi Shankar
Prakash simply walked away from his lucrative corporate job in USA to resume his sitar and Indian classical music. This would continue till Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan sadly passed away in 2010. He also learned from Maihar Gharana. He learned many so many ragas and bandish from him. The Ustad’s passing away was a serious blow, but Prakash continues his practice using the recorded sessions from his Ustad.
As a budding sitar player, Prakash has performed in many private and corporate concerts. His unique sitar playing style, based on the traditional talim from his Ustad, is much admired and appreciated by learned audiences and connoisseurs of Indian classical music.
Prakash relishes this moment of unbelievable appreciation from his audience and recognizes that there can be no greater joy than to share the mellifluous and melodious strains of the sitar with young and old alike. It is this passion, and this desire to share the infinite joy of Indian classical music, that has persuaded Prakash to join Sri Guruji Art Academy from Nov 2015 as a sitar teacher. Yesterday’s shishya will become tomorrow’s guru, but learning and education, and the joy of taking and giving, will never end.
Being an Engineer I am working in Corporate world.
But after getting command over Sitar and most of the Raaga's in Indian classical music, I started performing.
So now I have two professions.