Narayan travelled to Lahore in 1943 and auditioned for the local All India Radio (AIR) station as a singer, but the station's music producer, Jivan Lal Mattoo, noticed grooves in Narayan's fingernails:[REF] sarangis are played by pressing the fingernails sideways against three playing strings, which strains the nails [REF].
After sitar player Ravi Shankar successfully performed in Western countries, Narayan followed his example [REF].