INDIAN MUSIC FORUM ARCHIVES: Indian Music Forum: sarod playing technique question

I am looking for information on
sarod playing.

I have heard, that the strings on a
sarod a stopped with the fingernails
rather than the tip of the fingers.
I understand, that this is essential
to produce a sustained sound on a fretless
fingerboard. However, I don't understand
how this is exactly done:

Do sarod players
necessarily have longer fingernails on
their left hand? This would make sarod
playing incompatible with playing western
plucked instruments like the guitar or lute,
in my opinion.
However I have heard of the sarod player
Ken Zuckerman, who is also a teacher of
lute at the schola cantorum basiliensis in
Basel/switzerland.

Can anybody help me to clarify things?

greetings,

Stefan