North Indian music (Hindustani Sangit) has been handed down from teacher to student orally for over 2,000 years. The basis of North Indian music is the raga (the melodic form), and the tala (the time measures). Thousands of ragas exist, each based on one of ten parent scales. Various ragas are associated with different times of the day, as well as different seasons. Beyond its melodic form, each raga encompasses a particular mood and synthesis of emotions which a skillful musician evokes. Improvisation plays an essential part, but always within the established framework of the raga which is being expressed.

A raga can consist of three parts. The alap, or out-of-tempo invocation, the jor, in which a basic tempo is established, and the jhala, in which the tempo is increased and brought to a climax. The tempo is defined by the solo instrument - in this case the bansuri. Most performances of ragas utilize the tabla to help emphasize the rhythmic aspects.

Indian music has a highly developed rhythmic system known as tala. The tala describes an organized cycle, composed of various rhythmic units, ranging from three to one hundred and eight beats.

As an Indian musician, Sachdev believes in the Vedic theory that sound is the source of everything and that it offers the easiest means to reach God and to feel the divine essence. - From the liner notes of Amar Sangit, available through this web site.