He is considered to be one of the few musicians who have tried to expose Indian Classical Music to the world. Rajeev is not too fond of fusion as he loves the traditional aspects of Indian Music.

"I do not support the new style of fusion. Fusion will be perfect only when the artists understand the work of others and blend well the two styles of music. Music should be a dialogue. When you fuse, the music should blend with each other and entertain the listeners.  I do fusion only when I’m sure that I can converse well with other artists through my music. At times Carnatic singers sit with the Hindustani musicians without even knowing what is happening on the stage. The Carnatic musicians will not be comfortable with the North Indian Style. Then it will become a monologue.”

This music enthusiast has performed in International Music festivals and many other famous stages along with his wife Kamala Shankar.

“Kamala and I have been giving concerts worldwide since 1992. She plays guitar along with my sitar. Now, my student Shrinka Agarwal also joins us. She highlights the rhythm with her ‘ghungroos’. Thus we have introduced an innovative piece.”

According to Rajeev the current generation lacks exposure in traditional classical music and instruments.

“We need somebody to bridge the gap between musicians and youngsters. Once a musician becomes senior he hesitates to teach the basics to the kids. They also make it sound so hard. Nowadays children have good grasping power.”

Rajeev supports his disciple Shrinka to run ‘Swar Saraswati’, an NGO inDelhi by teaching tabla, rudra veena and surbahar to under privileged children from the slums of Delhi. 

“We started ‘Swar Saraswati’ in 2010. Now we have 45 under privileged children learning music. It is very hard to convince their parents. Children show great interest to learn. Music will make one humble and human.”

Being a promoter of Indian Music, he follows the traditional guru-shishya style to teach music in Delhi.

“Living with the teacher will evoke more interest among the children. It is like breathing, eating and living music. This was how experts were groomed in the past.”

Rajeev cherishes beautiful childhood memories about the trips he had made to Kerala during vacations. He now dreams of popularising traditional Indian musical instruments like rudra veena, sithar and surbahar among Keralites by holding classes in Trivandrum.

“Music is so much a part of me. Sangeeth ke bina mere Jeevan mein  kuch bhi nahin,” chuckled this music exponent, playing the strings of the sitar.