For the first time, Turkish qanun maestro Ahmet Baran, santoor virtuoso Rahul Sharma and Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej have collaborated on Ananda: The Cosmic Bliss.

Rahul believes instrumental music has a unique ability to connect with listeners anywhere. “The best aspect about instrumental music is that it goes beyond the barriers of language. As a listener, one can connect with the theme and emotion, while the absence of lyrics help simplify the experience and creates a personal connect with with the compositions,” he says in an exclusive conversation with us.

For Ahmet, the collaboration offered an opportunity to discover new possibilities within his own instrument. “The biggest surprise was discovering how naturally our differences could create space for one another,” he says. He was particularly struck by the “calm and depth” of Rahul’s santoor and Ricky’s ability to bring different cultures together within a larger musical vision. “After playing an instrument for many years, you begin to believe you know its boundaries.

Ricky sees the coming together of the two maestros as more of a meeting of instruments. “Rahul’s santoor and Ahmet’s qanun naturally fit beautifully with each other because both are maestros at work. When you reach the level of skill they both have, it stops becoming just a musical collab; it becomes a heart-to-heart collaboration between the three of us,” he says.

This music also carries a deeper purpose for Ricky. He believes the nature of the music can help address the growing concerns around stress and mental wellbeing. “I believe this album stresses the issues of mental health and stress, simply because of the nature of the music that we have created. It can alleviate stress and make you calmer,” he says, adding, “Mental health is very important, and music can play a very important role in it. I am so very proud of our album Ananda: The Cosmic Bliss.”

The instrumental album blends contemporary global sounds with Turkish and Indian musical traditions, creating an immersive musical experience and a culturally diverse that transcends cultural, geographical and linguistic boundaries.