Five years. In some ways, it feels like a lifetime. In others, it feels like we blinked.
This November 2025 marks Art Gharana’s fifth anniversary. As we look back on this incredible journey, from a simple idea during a global pandemic to a thriving global community, we wanted to share our story.
It’s a story of doubt, hard work, and sleepless nights. But more than anything, it’s a story about connection - connecting kids in the US to teachers in India, connecting parents to a hassle-free way to impart culture, and connecting all of us to the joy of music, dance, and art.
This isn't just our story; it's yours, too. It’s the story of every family that trusted us, every teacher who poured their heart into a class, and every student who found their creative voice.
Here’s how we grew, one year at a time.
The Spark: An Idea Born from a Pandemic (2020)
It all started in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The world was in lockdown, and like many of you, we were parents trying to keep life as normal as possible for our family. Our child was five years old at the time, and we enrolled them in some online Hindi classes with a tutor from India.
We were genuinely surprised to see how quickly our kid developed an interest and how much they grew in that class. We weren't the only ones. Soon, friends' kids started getting interested, too. What began as a class for one person quickly grew to about 10 kids, all in different classes.
We looked at this and thought, "Wow, this is working... it's working very well".
That’s when the idea struck. We realized this setup was a true "win-win-win" for everyone involved.
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For the teacher: A passionate educator in India could share their knowledge with the world.
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For the student: A child in the US was genuinely loving the classes and growing.
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For the parents (us!): We were thrilled. There were no hiccups, no hassle of dropping off or picking up, and it was cost-effective.
Everybody was happy with the setup. We saw a great opportunity to do something meaningful, something that could make a difference for society and for all these stakeholders.
My wife, Monica, was the one who crystallized the idea. She suggested we should think about something creative, something that isn't easily available here in the US. It couldn't be academics; after-school academic classes aren't very common here.
But then came music.
Monica does have some background from her school days, where she learned a little bit of it. She’s not an artist, but she had that connection. As for me? We both didn't have any history in music, for sure, not learning it. We didn't know anything about it.
But for sure, we did love music. Like, who doesn’t?.
And just like that, the seed for live, online music classes was planted.
Year 1: Building the Foundation (And Facing the Doubts) (2020-2021)
An idea is one thing. Execution is another.
From that initial spark, we knew it was an uphill task. We had no clue what to do, how to do it, or how we would achieve what we were thinking. We weren't even sure if it was achievable or doable.
This wasn't our first time thinking about a startup; we had done a couple in the past. So, we understood just how much effort a startup can take. We knew the sacrifices it would demand, and we were definitely, definitely committed to doing it.
The seed was there. We started by reaching out to Monica's old classmates who had actually made their careers in the music profession. We just started learning.
That entire first year wasn't about growth. It was about "just setting up the foundation". It was about "just learning how this thing works, what matters for music learning, and what are the things which we must take care of".
And I’ll be honest: It was super, super, super hard.
When you're building something from nothing, you can almost imagine a lot of chains pulling you down, pulling you back. These are the chains of "ifs and buts," of self-doubt, and of whatnot. The harsh reality is that most startups don't make it. The majority of them actually shut down within the first year of starting.
While you're in it, you end up compromising a lot of things: your life, your money, and so much more. Those self-doubts are always there. And that was the same case with us.
The questions were relentless:
"Am I capable of doing it?" "Are we really going to do this without knowing anything about music ourselves?" "Is it even a workable option, considering this is online? How do you believe that music can be taught online?" "Will we have enough time to do it, considering all our other responsibilities?" "Will we have enough money to invest in it?" "What happens to our social life? It requires dedication." "What happens to our theater time, our Friday night parties, birthday parties... all that?" "What happens if we don't succeed?"
These were all real questions. But we were committed. We said, "No, we will give it an honest try, and we'll see how it goes".
That first year was a super hard year of setting up that foundation. We spoke with so many people. We found some really good teachers from India who supported us and agreed to move forward with this idea. We started building our initial team of teachers, the pioneers who believed in this vision with us.
I remember thinking of our startup as this "initial square block". And we were tied to it with all those chains of doubt. We were trying to roll it, and it was super hard. We were sweating. We were sweating like hell, and we were pushing it. Both of us, working together, pushing extremely hard, working around the clock. But then, a little victory: the block was moving.
I remember by the end of that first year, we had maybe 20 students.
That number was low. But it didn't matter. We were seeing the growth. We had no platform; we were doing everything end-to-end ourselves. We had no paid marketing. It was all word of mouth, just sharing things on social media ourselves.
We were the ones talking to all the customers on calls, convincing them to try a demo, converting them, and then making sure their experience remained top-notch.
We started getting feedback. I'll never forget the day a parent told us, "Your support is better than Amazon". Those comments made our day. We were so happy with the results. Our effort, our sweat, our blood-all that didn't matter in that moment.
By the end of the year, we saw some of those chains breaking up. We were confident. We knew this was going to work.
Year 2: Finding Our Rhythm (2021-2022)
Now came Year 2. We started growing, slowly but surely.
This was the year we got our first bit of help. We brought on, I believe, maybe three or four people to work with us. And some of those people were actually teachers from our growing faculty who were not only teaching but also helping us with some other activities as well. Their passion was for more than just the classroom; they believed in the mission.
We started progressing on all fronts: people, process, and technology. We got a third-party platform so we could conduct classes more smoothly. We got a better meeting platform and got into Zoom. We were building systems. By the end of Year 2, we had grown from 20 to around close to 90 students.
The best part? We were still so hands-on. We were learning every single day. Even by the end of that year, with 90 students, we knew every single student by name. We knew exactly how it was happening. We knew all the classes, all the issues, all the challenges, and all the next steps needed to fix them. That personal touch was everything to us.
But this progress came at a cost. We were hitting a lot of blockers in terms of the sacrifices we had to make. We could clearly see our social life getting impacted.
It was fewer friends, less family time, fewer movies, fewer phone calls to our family back in India, fewer birthday parties, fewer vacations... all those things, just less and less.
It was an around-the-clock, 24/7 obsession. Nothing else mattered. But it was totally worth it. We just kept tackling all those blockers one by one, and it was all working out.
Year 3: The Year of Growth (2022-2023)
Year 3 was pivotal. We grew. "That was the year of growth".
This was the year we finally felt confident enough to start paid marketing. We started to seriously grow the team. We started hiring people for dedicated roles.
We got some really, really good people on our team who joined us, stayed with us, and who are still with us even now. They are going to be part of our success story forever. And I'm truly, really proud of the team we created and everything we were able to achieve together.
We also matured technologically. We have a lot of maturity in terms of our platform. We got a better third-party learning platform, which we still use now.
Most importantly, we got smarter. We realized that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work for the arts. We have different meeting platforms depending on different class types. After all, the setup needed for a focused, one-on-one Hindustani vocal class is very different from what you need for a high-energy, group online dance class or a hands-on, multi-camera art and craft session.
By the end of Year 3, we had grown from 90 students to nearly 300. The foundation was set, the rhythm was steady, and now, we were scaling.
Year 4 & 5: From a Block to a Sphere (2023-2025)
The last two years have been about solidifying our vision and building a mature, scalable company.
We knew that learning an art form isn't just about the weekly class. It's about performance, motivation, and community. So, we introduced events and workshops. These gave our students a platform to perform, to see others perform, and to feel that rush of motivation. It gave our students in online dance classes and music a real, albeit virtual, stage to showcase their hard-earned talents.
We kept growing, kept hiring, and kept solidifying our strategy and our teams.
Today, in our fifth year, that small, 3-person team is now a global family of around 100 people. We have over 70 incredible teachers and artists based in India and the Philippines, and a dedicated staff across all our teams.
We're no longer two founders wearing every hat. We have well-structured teams for sales, marketing, support, strategy and growth, customer success, teacher success, recruiting, and whatnot. We have dedicated teams ensuring success for both our customers and our teachers.
Remember that heavy, square block we were pushing in Year 1?.
Today, I can see that "initial square block getting into shape". "Now it is almost a round sphere... which we can roll". "With very little effort, we know how to roll it. We have a good team to roll it. We are all rolling it together". Along the path, we've collected a lot of rewards and "medals" that we're incredibly proud of, and we are just so happy to see this success.
And we're not stopping. Our strategy is planned out. The most exciting development is just around the corner: our very own, in-house "developed platform where opportunities are endless".
But that’s not all. I’m thrilled to announce we are launching an "employee wellness and team learning program" for companies. This B2B program is going live right now and is a huge milestone for us. We're taking the same well-structured approach that we've perfected and applying it to the corporate world. I have zero doubts about its success.
Our Journey is Your Journey
Looking back, that initial idea in 2020 was never just about building a business. It was about creating something where everyone could win.
From an idea that began with a single Hindi class for a 5-year-old, we’ve built a global community. We’ve helped families reconnect with their roots, inspired students to discover new passions, and created a platform for talented artists to build their careers.
We are who we are because of our team, our teachers, and most importantly, the families who trusted us.
If you’ve been looking for a way to connect your child (or yourself!) to the rich world of Indian and global arts, we invite you to be part of our story. This journey has taught us that with passion and commitment, you can learn anything, from anywhere.
Whether you want to learn an instrument, explore the rhythm of dance, or find your focus with visual arts, we invite you to be part of our story. Come see what we've built.
Explore all our courses in music, dance, and art at www.artgharana.com and start your own creative journey with us today.
