Pandit Bickram Ghosh, tabla player, fusion artiste and a long associate of Pandit Ravi Shankar speaks to Rediff.com:

"My heart is too heavy at the moment. I am yet to come to terms with the fact that Panditji is no more. For, he was a part of the family, if not more. My father, tabla maestro Pandit Shankar Ghosh, was very close to Panditji. I have seen him since birth. In a way, I grew up on his music.

Panditji was a pioneer. He was the Alexander Graham Bell of Indian music. He experimented with the genre with an effortless ease and achieved for Indian music a permanent place on the global map. Now, people like us are touring the world, coordinating with our foreign counterparts, and carrying our creativity to every corner. But we should never forget that it is possible only because of Panditji. His was an insatiable thirst for perfection. I am yet to come across any musician who is as mesmerizing and as dedicated as him. He did not only play the Sitar -- the instrument kind of grew on him.

Panditji was an iconoclast. He never walked the old path. Rather, he paved new ways for Indian music by introducing a number of ragas and tals. I am fortunate enough to have enjoyed a long 11 years of professional relationship with him. And all those years will be treasured in my heart as long as I live.

As I played with him, I was floored by his simplicity and humility. Perhaps, such virtues are essential for a man of his stature. Today, the world lost one of its brightest musical stars. Indian music should observe silence for some time today to pay tribute to Panditji."

Pt Bickram Ghosh spoke to Rediff.com's Indrani Roy.