[8] His father saw an opportunity to introduce him to the santoor, a hammered dulcimer, which was a folk instrument that traced its origins to ancient Persia, but was played in Kashmir.

[6] Sharma started learning santoor at the age of thirteen[8][1] and gave his first public performance in Mumbai in 1955.

[10] The one-hour-long rendition of Raga Yaman at his first live performance in 1955, left his audience in Mumbai shouting ‘Encore!’ [11] Starting his career playing the santoor with his father, Sharma is credited with introducing the santoor as a popular Indian classical music instrument.

He collaborated with Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain and with flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia on many of his performances as well as on his albums.

[6] In 1967, he teamed up with Chaurasia and guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra to produce a concept album, Call of the Valley (1967), which turned out to be one of Indian classical music's greatest hits.

[15] Sharma also played tabla including in the popular song "Mo Se Chhal Kiye Jaaye" sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the 1965 film Guide, on the insistence of music director S. D.

It is to take you on a meditative journey, ye toh mehsoos karne ki cheez hai (This has to be experienced).