From the start of the year, Ustad Shujaat Khan has been going from city to city, stage to stage, taking his music to listeners across the country with his Strings & Wind tour. Back-to-back concerts may be demanding, but for the sitar maestro, they are also a blessing earned over decades. “I am tired every day,” said Khan, 60, to mid-day. “When I come home from a concert, my body aches; my hips, shoulders, and fingers hurt. But this is the culmination of all the efforts of my life. If I didn’t do this, what the hell would I do?”

The sitarist performed in Hyderabad on February 14. Performing, he insisted, is both duty and delight. “This is my job, and my pleasure.”