“I really want to thank you for motivating and for nurturing Mehek’s interest in music. Mehek has learned a lot since her childhood. I still remember Mehek singing the small poems from your book “Gana Bajana”.With your guidance and coaching and along with the structured SMA program, Mehek has been able to grow her interest in Hindustani classical and has improved over the years. Thank you for being a wonderful teacher.”

“I have known Nikita for almost 3 years now. My daughter (12 years old at the time) started classes with Nikita in the fall of 2010. My younger son (7 years old at the time) decided that his sister was having too much fun with her music lessons, and insisted that he too be enrolled in classes with Nikita. He joined Nikita’s classes in April of 2011. I have 3 children (my oldest is 16) and we are a musically inclined family, so I have had experience with several music teachers.  Based on that experience, I can state unequivocally, that Nikita is one of the best music teachers around, especially for young children.  I would like to countdown the top five reasons why I think Nikita is the best. Reason one, she knows how to deal with children, to motivate them and teach them in a way that is pragmatic and relevant to their interests. Reason two, Nikita is very organized, for instance she distributes class notes to her students regularly to aid in their practice. Also, she communicates with parents in a timely and effective manner (mostly through email), a necessity in our over-scheduled lives. Reason number three, Nikita organizes an annual show for her school that we all look forward to. It is a wonderful show-case of the children’s talent and hard work all year.  Reason four, Nikita is an affiliate teacher for Shankar Mahadevan Academy, and some classes (my son’s for instance) benefit from online classes at SMA in addition to Nikita’s teaching, thereby getting the best of both worlds. The children are richly rewarded with the SMA affiliation in terms of feedback from other teachers, an online session with Shankar Mahadevan himself this past spring,  and an opportunity to audition for and sing with Shankar Mahadevan on stage at his recent concert in San Jose last month. This was surely a fabulous milestone and a great source of encouragement for the children on their musical journey with Nikita.  Now for the number one reason why I think Nikita and her music classes are the best?  The kids absolutely love her and look forward to her classes!”