On Lineage, Learning, and the Guru–Shishya Bond

My social media feed has been full of discussions around lineage and discipleship these days - a conversation that, to me, seems to have grown much larger than it perhaps needed to be.

I am very new to learning a classical art, but age-wise old enough to understand certain things. My relationship with my Guru is very sacred, even without the sacred thread ceremony. The ceremonial Gandha Bandhan, I believe, is only for selected disciples who are deeply sincere, willing to dedicate themselves to the art, and capable of carrying forward their Guru’s legacy. I do not fit into that category, but the Guru–Shishya bond between me and my Guruji is no less meaningful.

Why am I writing all this?

It comes from my own experience as a student of my Guruji, Pandit Gaurav Mazumdar ji, who is one of the senior disciples of Pandit Ravi Shankar ji. 

What he teaches us is not simply what Pandit Ravi Shankar ji taught him. Rather, it is what he has absorbed from Pandit Ravi Shankar ji together with what he learnt from his father and his Guru Pandit Nandkishore Vishwakarma ji, from his cousins, and from a great deal of indirect learning through radio and other sources.

My Guruji is the person from whom I learn, my Guru is Pandit Gaurav Mazumdar. I address his Guruji, Pandit Ravi Shankar ji, as Guruji as well. I call Guruji’s mother Maa, his wife is Guru Ma to me, and I love his daughter like my own child.

What I want to highlight here is this: if you learn from a disciple of a well-known musician, you may be part of that gharana, but you are not a direct disciple. It really hurts me when some of Guruji’s students (I am consciously not using the word disciple here) promote themselves by mentioning Pandit Ravi Shankar ji as their Guru, without mentioning Guruji’s name at all. This clearly suggests that they are using a name for their own fame rather than respecting the bond between Guru and Shishya.

The Guru–Shishya bond is incredibly sacred. The spark I see in Guruji’s eyes when he talks about his Guruji is truly remarkable.

A Guru does not simply teach the art; a Guru teaches the art of living.

Pandit Ravi Shankar ji did extraordinary work in bringing Indian classical music to the Western world, but his beliefs about Hindustani music remained deeply traditional. His daily routine was disciplined — he never missed his riyaaz, his walks, or his reading. His meals were also at fixed times. Much of this discipline is reflected in my Guruji’s personality.

A true disciple of Ravi Shankar ji would never publicly say that their riyaaz is mood-based, and they would always maintain decorum on stage. 

It saddens me to see how paid promotions attempt to justify certain things, and how, in this social-media-algorithm driven world, with its built-in biases, it becomes difficult to know what the actual truth is.