When I met Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India on the 26th of March 2015, my enthusiasm for music was at its lowest ebb. During our conversation, Modiji was intrigued by my dream project, 'Sangeet Gram', an academy in the memory of Ustad Bismillah Khan. But, I was surprised to find that he shared this dream with me, having himself built a museum to preserve the endangered instruments of India. The following year arrived and I began preparations for Ustad Bismillah Khan's centennial celebrations, including the construction of Sangeet Gram. It was then that I received the honour of being inducted into the National Implementation Committee for Centenary Celebrations and my efforts now extend to holding celebration concerts in India and abroad. I had already been writing an account of Baba's life; the priceless anecdotes that he had shared and the surreal moments that we had spent together. In order to commemorate his musical genius and celebrate 100 years of his unparalleled contribution to music in this field, I deemed it fit to publish it all in book form.

I hope this book provides its readers with an insight into Baba's life, and that they too celebrate his simplicity, his undying perseverance and patience with his art, the genius of his music and my musical journey, through this book-'Baba & Me'.