There was a time when lovers of Indian classical music had to come to India to pursue their passion. Today, avenues are opening up across the US for them to study, research or learn a wide range of Indian performing arts

A skinny seven-year-old Afghan boy walked into Zakir Hussain's tabla class in the Bay Area in northern California in 1988. For over two decades, he trained rigorously and today, among his many accomplishments is the tabla score for the stage adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner. Salar Nader is now teaching at the Afghan national Institute of Music in Kabul, the only music school in that nation.

Indians can never quite get over the fact that many of our celebrated musicians, be it Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain or much before them Ali Akbar Khan, left India to practice their art in the US.